The World Without
by Kay Blue Eyes
Summary: After Christine has left Erik finds himself cursing God and his own illfated existence. But as he is on the very verge of death he finds that God has actually heard his cries. But will knowing what the world is like without him change his mind about his l
1. Chapter 1

**Hey all. Since the Poto idea seemed to win out in my recent poll as to what I should do next here is the first chapter! But just so you know this will not be nearly as long as Unseen Genius (though it will be closely related to that story). In fact, it will most likely be less than 10 chapters. And I also plan to work on the other two fics at the same time… So don't be disappointed if I haven't gotten to your choice yet! I will!**

_**The basic premise of this story is that after Christine has left Erik down in the cellars he finds himself cursing God and his own ill-fated existence. But as he is on the very verge of death he is surprised to find that God has actually sent him a messenger to answer his questions. But will knowing what the world would have been like without him change his mind about his life? Read and find out! **_

**Oh and P.S. for those of you who have not read Unseen Genius don't worry. This story can be read completely independently of my first fic. Though I do recommend reading Unseen Genius for some of the more subtle allusions to that story. **

Chapter 1: The Messenger

Christine was gone. She had left with wide-eyed disbelief and tearful gratitude; left him alone, in the dark, cold embrace of the Opera's deepest cellars. In the end her fear of him turned his stomach, and her naive cruelty stung, but really, it was the relief he had seen in her eyes that had hurt the most. Despite any feelings of affection or pity she might have carried within her heart for him she could hardly wait to escape his presence. It was the fear that he felt within her when she kissed him that finally reached through his obsession and brought him back to reality.

He knew then he couldn't keep her. That she was as far out of his reach as the furthest expanses of heaven. And now death would be the sweetest form of relief he could hope for, the only measure of mercy to ever find its way to him in all his miserable years. His life was over.

Staggering with the weight of his grief; the man who had terrorized the Opera House for so long, the man known only as the Phantom, blindly made his way through the twisting passages of his underground home. With every step he took he could see Christine's face more clearly within his mind. The image of her fresh young features twisting in fear haunted him, breaking his heart all over again.

Now that she was gone he was cursed with the clarity of mind to see the true depth of her character more clearly than he had ever been able to before. The flaws that ran through the bedrock of her personality, like the fine cracks the ancient stonemasons had once feared to find within their marble, had widened under the stress of his attention. Her eagerness to please, her weakness of conviction, flaws he had once thought endearing, had finally pushed her into the safety of another man's arms.

_She could never have been mine…_ he realized dully, the pain beating within him too great to allow for his usual barrier of rage to protect his heart. _But it really isn't her fault… how could she have been expected to stay when she found out that her Angel was really a blackhearted demon? Don't fool yourself… this isn't her fault. It is mine!_

Stopping in mid-step, no longer finding the strength to continue on, Erik raised both hands up to his face, finally giving in to the chilling tide of despair washing over him. Within the tortured tomb of his mind one thought repeated incessantly over and over. _How could I have fooled myself so utterly? I should have known better. Love… my love… wasn't enough. I should have known better… I should have known better._

As all feeling drained out of his lower limbs, the Phantom of the Opera slowly sank to the cold stone floor. Leaning his head back against the wall, he stared blindly into the darkness that he had so long considered to be his one true ally in life, but found none of the comfort he normally did within the shadows. Closing his eyes against the sudden unbearable press of the Opera's unending night, he felt the warmth of his own tears fall down his face.

Just when he felt that his cursed existence couldn't get any worse a small stream of water dribbled down from the ceiling above, splashing mockingly over his shoulder and soaking the tattered remains of his shirt. It was the final straw. Dropping his hands to his sides, Erik couldn't stop the sob from tearing free of his lungs. As the grief over Christine's betrayal grew within him, becoming almost a living thing as it clawed through his system, the sobs wracking his body exploded into screams of pure agony.

The echoes of his own voice bounced back to him from the closeness of the walls, mocking him with amplified intensity. _Let me die now. Let me die and put an end to this pain, _he pleaded, sending his thoughts up to heaven and the God he had long ago learned to hate. _Congratulations, You win… I finally know the extent of my worth. You turned a blind eye against me the moment I was born… I know now that I have always been beneath Your all-seeing notice. _

The bitterness in his thoughts slowly burned its way through the misery of his broken heart. Hate, born from debris of a shattered soul, began to take away the sting of his sorrow, offering him a small reprieve. _That is right… this isn't her fault… it isn't mine… It is YOURS! _Turning his eyes upward, Erik welcomed the cleansing heat of his fury shimmering through his chilled body.

_Well, I hope You have had a good laugh at my expense, Lord… It certainly must have been entertaining… a prolonged production for Your amusement. But I feel that this is a good time to put an end to this charade. Strike me down now… I don't care. You could do nothing more cruel than allowing me to be born in the first place. Damn You! And damn Your warped sense of justice. I should have never been born. If this was to be my end I should never have been born. Damn You! I hate You!_

Gritting his teeth Erik gladly floundered in the waters of his fury, feeling his sorrow drowning under the troubled tides of his mind. It felt good to curse God; it made him feel as if he had some sense of control over his destiny. Perhaps his entire life had been a terrible mistake made by the Creator, but he would be damned if he would die clutched in the same helplessness with which he had lived. His death, at least, would be in a manner of his own choosing.

_Now I have the opportunity to undo Your monumental mistake! It seems fitting that I should end my own life within this tomb. Perhaps I should even make use of one of my own creations to expedite my demise. Suicide… a terrible sin to be sure… but at least I will be certain to ensure my rightful place in hell. _

Emboldened by this new sense of power Erik moved to climb to his feet, intending to find his way to one of the many torture devices he had installed within the Opera's cellars, but a deep protesting cough that shook his entire frame stopped his progress. Confused by this odd reaction, he finally began to take stock of his surroundings, something that the darkness of his thoughts had prevented until now. The acrid stench of smoke filled his lungs as he took an unsteady breath.

_What the hell? _he wondered, the barest hint of panic slithering through his veins as he coughed again. _Where is this coming from? _His moment of confusion was brief as the answer drifted through his mind. The fire that the fallen chandelier had sparked up above must have been burning for hours now. Obviously the smoke must have been funneled down into the tunnels when the upper floors could hold no more. Slowly, a humorless smile edged at the corners of his mouth and he purposely lowered himself back to the floor. _Perhaps there is no need to go to any trouble after all. Apparently, Death is coming to me. All I have to do is breathe deeply… so very simple. _

Certain in his present course of action, Erik sat passively as the air began to grow thick and heavy around him. Every breath burned and his body began to tremble with the need for clean air, his every cell crying out to him to get up and run to safety. Stubbornly ignoring the pain building within his chest, Erik welcomed the dizziness that was beginning to steal over his senses. _Good, it will not be long now. I will lose consciousness… it will be like falling into a comforting slumber. _

Feeling his head lolling to one side, Erik made no effort to right his slumping posture. For the first time in his life he did not care about proper appearances. _Funny, that such a thing should be… so long in… coming,_ he thought vaguely, the wheels within his mind slowly grinding to a halt. It was becoming harder and harder to make a rational thought, to think on Christine and her hasty departure. Her haunting image began to fade from within his mind's eye.

But through the fog now clouding his brain he managed to cling to one last certainty before he fell into unconsciousness. _I should never have been born…_ he thought with silent conviction before his mind went completely blank. The chill in the air, the hardness of the stone beneath him, the pain burning within his heart all bled away into a blessed sea of nothingness; leaving him alone, as he always had been, in an endless and impenetrable night. _Never… should… have… been… born…_

"Are you so sure of that statement then?" a deep, unfamiliar voice inquired from somewhere nearby, the slightest hint of annoyance sharpening each strangely pronounced word.

Starting at the unexpected voice, the processes of Erik's mind stuttered sluggishly back into motion. _Now I am hearing things… It would be nearly impossible for someone to stumble this far down into the cellars. Just ignore it. _Frowning, Erik shook his head to clear it of this irritating development. _I will not start hallucinating. Just fall asleep… it will be easy. _Determinedly concentrating on blanking out his mind, at finding the utter peace he had felt only moments ago, he relaxed his entire body, a deep satisfaction stealing through his system when the voice did not immediately return.

When a small pebble sailed through the air and bounced off the middle of his forhead Erik nearly jumped out of his skin, his concentration completely scattered to the winds. This wasn't a matter of hallucinating now, there must actually be someone standing with him in the darkness. The knowledge that he was no longer alone quickly cleared his foggy mind and renewed his waning strength. Jerking violently backward and away from the unwelcome touch, Erik lost his balance and fell flat onto his back. Somehow the wall was no longer directly behind him. Opening his eyes with a growl, with every intention of killing the man who had dared to disturb him, Erik found himself staring straight up at a clear blue summer sky.

Watching blankly as puffs of clouds drifted overhead all thoughts of murder were momentarily forgotten in favor of utter shock and confusion. _Wait… this is not right. _Turning his head to the side, Erik was confronted with a wall of sweet-smelling wildflowers and tall green grass. _No… not right at all… I was in the cellars… I was dying… _A cricket began to chirp somewhere nearby, its raspy music joining in the peaceful chorus of birdsong that was floating through the air.

Confusion quickly bled into panic as Erik realized he had no idea where he was or what he was doing there. Jerking up into a sitting position, he was slightly surprised at how light his body felt, the pain in his lungs no more than an unpleasant memory now. Looking out over an apparently endless field of waving flowers, with no sign of the Parisian skyline in view, Erik's jaw dropped open.

"What the fuck!" he exclaimed, his utter astonishment prodding the uncharacteristically callous profanity from his lips.

"Shame on you for using such a word in a place like this," the same masculine voice Erik had heard before admonished from behind him.

Whirling about to face the stranger, Erik automatically raised a hand up to hide the right side of his uncovered face. Spotting a young man casually lounging against a tall boulder a few yards away, Erik hastily jumped to his feet, his entire body tensing and ready for a fight. Without hesitation he launched himself at the intruder, fully intending to wring the other man's neck for simply being there.

The younger man merely shot him an insulted frown. "Stop that now. We have too much to accomplish to have time for such foolishness," the stranger stated, exasperation rather than fear sharpening his words.

Ignoring this, Erik barreled onward raising both hands to wrap around the stranger's neck. The young man sighed heavily and simply flicked his wrist in Erik's direction, his simple, unconcerned action coinciding exactly with the air around Erik's body solidifying around him. Frozen in mid-pounce Erik struggled against his invisible bonds, his eyes blazing in fury when he found he was unable to move.

Rising gracefully from his spot on the ground, the young man approached where Erik stood paralyzed, his movements slow and purposely non-threatening. Darkly good-looking, the stranger's strong jaw and black eyebrows gave his face a serious, brooding air. Coming to stand directly in front of Erik, he studied his captive with an openly curious gaze, his flashing blue eyes pausing briefly upon the deformity distorting the right side of Erik's face before moving on.

Dark boiling fury erupted within Erik's body as the stranger's eyes moved over him. An old, deep-seated humiliation turned sickeningly within his gut and he redoubled his efforts to free himself; so caught up in the overpowering wash of his emotions that he never once considered the supernatural aspect of his captivity. "Take a long look, you bastard, because when I can move again I'll make sure it is the last thing you ever see again!" he howled, a dark angry flush staining his cheeks a deep red.

Shifting his gaze up to meet Erik's eyes, the stranger's expression softened from intense curiosity to abashed regret. The younger man took a step back and turned his face to the ground. "Forgive me. I have just been wondering for a while what you would look like. I should have realized that at this point it would make you uncomfortable."

Surprised by the sincerity he heard in the young man's words, Erik was startled out of his growing temper. _He apologized to me… as if I were an equal and not… not a monster._ Having never been in such a situation before, Erik wasn't exactly sure how to react. His initial instinct was to lash out, just as he normally did in every uncomfortable situation, but something about the way the young man spoke, the way the regret creased his perfect brow, stopped him. It calmed the rage within him.

Taking a deep breath, Erik clenched his jaw into a hard line, taking a moment to make another quick study of his captor's face. There was something vaguely familiar about the younger man, as if they had met somewhere long ago. His young, rugged features were so unique that Erik was certain he would have remembered meeting him before, but the feeling of knowing him persisted. _What is it? I feel I should know his name…_ The dark hair, the high sculpted cheekbones, the straight aristocratic nose and even the slightly arrogant tilt to the young man's mouth all added together into the very picture of masculine good looks. Looks Erik had always longed to possess himself. _Maybe that is it… maybe he reminds of what I might have been… that must be it._

"If you are so contrite then release me," Erik snapped through clenched teeth, his voice lacking any true heat now. "I don't know how you are holding me still, but I know it is your doing."

Looking back up at him the young man nodded. "So long as you promise not to attack me again. We do have many things to do and not enough time to complete them."

Pressing his lips together in irritation Erik let out a steadying breath. "I promise I will not kill you until you tell me who you are and how I got here," he growled, purposely allowing the threat in his words to hang heavily in the air. He didn't like this stranger's total lack of fear of him. He had forgotten how to deal with a person who wasn't afraid of him.

A flicker of irritation almost identical to Erik's flashed across the stranger's face causing his lips to thin into a scowl, but slowly the young man's expression shifted into an amused smile. "Well, I suppose that will have to be good enough for now. It isn't like you could kill me anyway…" he muttered. With a casual wave of his hand the young man dissolved the invisible bonds holding Erik immobile. Finding himself suddenly freed, Erik fell unceremoniously to the ground with a grunt.

Scrambling back up to his feet, Erik faced off with the younger man, ignoring the pieces of dried grass and dirt now clinging to his clothing. "Now you will tell me who you are. You will tell me where we are. And you will tell me how you managed to spirit me here without my knowledge!"

Raising a hand up to ruffle through his dark hair, the young man continued to smile. "They did say you would be insufferable right now… but damned if you are an annoying old bastard."

Bristling at the insult, Erik could practically feel the need to maim this idiotic youngster thrumming through his blood. _How dare he! Does he know who I am! I could rip that stupid smile right off his face!_ "What did you say!"

"I said you were annoying," the stranger repeated slowly without the slightest bit of proper decorum. When Erik took a threatening step forward, the impossible young man merely raised his hands in a conciliatory gesture. "But I suppose you are entitled to your tempers for now. Though if you don't shape up soon, it will only be harder for you later."

"And what does THAT mean?"

A spark of wickedness crept into the stranger's smile, giving him a light teasing air that Erik didn't like. "Oh, you will find out. But that is for later… after we finish our business here."

"And what is this business you keep going on about, boy!"

"Oh? So you don't know. Funny… I thought you had everything figured out in that head of yours the way you gripe all the time."

Just about fed up with the entire situation, Erik felt a muscle in the side of his jaw begin to tick with his frustration. Seeing Erik's thunderous expression, the young man's smile finally dimmed and he relented. "All right, I will answer all of your questions. You don't have to get so worked up."

"Where are we?" Erik quickly demanded, the biggest question that had been swirling about his mind popping out of his mouth before he could stop it. "Is this near Paris?"

"No, we are nowhere near Paris. In fact, we aren't even in France…"

Stunned, Erik frowned. "What do you mean? That isn't possible…"

Turning his eyes to the idyllic landscape, the young man allowed his gaze to sweep out over the endless fields surrounding them. "This place really isn't near… anything."

A new thought had Erik sucking in a sharp breath. _It cannot be…_ "Is this Heaven? Did I die already and not even know it!"

"No, you are not dead. And no, this isn't Heaven. You wouldn't be going to Heaven at this point should your life have come to an end."

A strong rush of disappointment cascaded through Erik's heart at those words. He had always known he wasn't meant to receive God's grace, but somehow hearing it out loud made him feel rotten inside. "Then where are we?"

"It is hard to explain… but I suppose you could call this place a middle ground of sorts. It is a place between Heaven and Earth. I really have to commend you, though… the current landscape is a product of your own imagination. It appears differently to everyone who comes here, and I was expecting something truly terrible to be coming out of your head… given your attitude problem. But I really like the flowers… it is soothing. I suppose you aren't a completely lost cause yet after all…"

When the young man grew quiet Erik was left staring at him as if he had lost his mind. _A middle ground… between Heaven and Earth? He says that so easily… as if it is the most natural thing in the world… but surely I must be going mad… because I am prone to believe what he is saying. Everything is just too… strange. Maybe this is a dream… _

"Why am I here?" Erik found himself mumbling.

Looking slightly surprised the young man cocked his head to one side, his eyes calmly looking Erik directly in the face. "Well, God doesn't normally take kindly to those who casually go around cursing His name. Especially those who haven't the foggiest idea what they are talking about. You made the claim that it would have been better if you never had been born. So you were brought here in order to allow you to see if what you said is true."

Shifting slightly, Erik glared over at the young man, waiting for the usual feelings of humiliation and fury to take hold within him as their blue gazes locked. But as the moments ticked by, those feelings did not appear and he realized with a shock that he didn't feel uncomfortable under this stranger's gaze. And he suddenly recognized that not once in the time they had been talking had the other man's eyes darkened in disgust or fear. _What is wrong with this idiot?_

Continuing on after the short pause, the young man stuffed his hands into the pockets of his plain black trousers. "And I am here to guide you into the world that would exist without you in it."

"So who are you? Some sort of delinquent angel?" Erik snapped, hoping to barb the younger man. He was more comfortable dealing with anger, he wanted to wipe the graceful ease right out of his annoying companion.

Staring at Erik for a moment, the young man soon tilted his head back and let out a hearty laugh. "An angel? An angel you say?" Wrapping his arms about his middle, he struggled to control his mirth. "Oh… Lord-a-mighty! I haven't heard something that funny in ages."

Tensing up, Erik let his fists clench at his sides. The other man's amusement was both a surprise and an irritation. He felt like he was being laughed at and he _hated_ being laughed at. "What is so funny!"

Stumbling over to the rock he had been leaning against earlier, the young man lowered onto it, so tired from his protracted guffaw that he had to sit down. "Don't look so insulted," he said, between chuckles. "I wasn't laughing at you… just that you thought that I was an angel…"

"Is that not the same thing, you buffoon!" Erik bellowed, throwing his hand up into the air in a furious gesture.

Sobering slightly, the young man raised a finger to his lips in thought. "Hmm… well I suppose _you_ would think so."

"You are beginning to wear upon my limited patience, boy…"

Ignoring this growled threat, the younger man fastidiously straightened his clothing. "To be more serious now…"

"Thank God!" Erik interrupted.

Shooting Erik a dark look, the young man continued on. "To be more serious, I am definitely not an angel. Those stuffy old bastards have more important things to do than to go traipsing around with you. No… I am more of what you would call a spirit."

"Like a dead person? A ghost?"

"No, not a ghost… because I have yet to be born. I am a soul waiting for my body to be prepared for me on Earth. Until that time comes all of us wait in this place."

"Then why were you sent to pester me? I was content where I was… I knew what I wanted next! I do not want to be here!"

"I cannot tell you yet why I was chosen to lead you. Right now you wouldn't believe me… maybe later…" Looking slightly uncomfortable with his vague answer the young man straightened upon the rock, once again studying Erik with the same intense concentration of his that seemed so like that of a physician in the middle of a surgery. "But were you really _content _to finish walking the dark path you had chosen? To stubbornly trudge your way into Hell when it is not the only way open to you?"

Kicking at the gaily swaying flowers at his feet, Erik's expression turned wooden. "There is no other path for me… I learned that long ago."

"That is stupidity speaking if ever I heard it."

Whirling back towards his tormentor, Erik stabbed a finger through the air at him. "You have a smart mouth on you boy that I find abrasive. Rein it in or be prepared to lose it."

"Ohhh…" the young man mocked. "I am trembling in my boots. What do you think you can do to me? I am a bleeding spirit after all."

Erik snapped his mouth shut. The boy had a nasty habit of making good points. "All right… I am done speaking with you," he snapped as he turned and stalked off in a random direction. Not caring really where he was going, only knowing he had to get away from the stupid spirit which had chosen to haunt him, he plowed through the sweet-smelling wildflowers with a quick-footed gait.

There was no sound of movement behind him, but suddenly the young man was standing directly in Erik's path. "You cannot leave until we complete our journey," the youth stated matter-of-factly, his windswept blue eyes going hard with a no-nonsense determination. "You challenged God's divine plan and now must see for yourself the smallness of your own ignorance. You will see what the world would have been like without you if you like it or not. And you will not be allowed to leave until you have seen it all… no matter how horrifying it becomes."

Pausing for a moment the spirit stilled completely, his expression shifting darkly with a hundred secret intentions. "Are you ready to suffer the fruits of your lack of faith, Erik?"

Battling the urge to ram a fist into the young man's throat, knowing the action would be useless anyway, Erik tried to clear his head. There was no escaping this place. He could see no sign of an exit, just endless miles of gently rolling fields. Hating the helplessness he felt stealing through his system, Erik realized he had no choice but to follow this arrogant little bastard if he ever wanted to leave.

"How did you know my name?" he finally muttered when he managed to take control of his temper.

"Oh, I know many things about you," the spirit supplied, a smugly mysterious light glittering in his eyes. "They picked me for this job for that very reason."

Feeling suddenly tired from all the successive assaults against his explosive temperament, Erik raised a hand up and ran it down his face, his fingers skimming lightly over the distorted ridges and hollows that covered the right side. "How long will this take?"

"As long as you need it to…"

Lowering his hand, Erik gave in. "Fine… since you are to plague me for some time, I might as well ask your name."

"Your curiosity is touching, really…"

"Are you going to answer me or not?"

"Technically I do not have a name right now…" Worrying his bottom lip between his perfectly white teeth, the spirit gave an elegant shrug. "But they tell me that when I am born my name will be Daniel."

Harrumphing to make it very clear that this introduction would in no way lead to friendlier exchanges, Erik crossed his arms over his chest. "How stupid… Biblical names always show a lack of inspiration."

Cocking his head to one side, Daniel merely smiled. "You think so? Well, you are entitled to your opinion… I think my mother picks this name out."

"Well, that makes perfect sense. Women are known to be useless wastes of space," Erik spat, his mind wandering to Christine for the first time since he had woken up in this strange place. Brutally beating down the ache beginning to well up within him, he shot Daniel a vicious glare. "Are we going to stand here all day or do you actually plan to ever do your job? I want to get this over with… I have an appointment with the Devil that I do not want to be late for."

Pasting an impassive expression upon his young face, Daniel looked off towards the horizon. "Yes, I think this would be a perfect time to begin. Pray that you are ready, Erik, for I think you are about to have a nasty bout of enlightenment."

"Shut up and lead the way."

Turning away, Daniel motioned for Erik to follow him, a dark smirk pulling at the corners of his mouth as he looked back over his shoulder. "Then by all means… follow me."


	2. In the Beginning

**Hey everyone! I am so happy about the response I have gotten so far on this story. You guys have been really supportive and I just want to say how much I appreciate it. Thanks.**

**And of course I have to thank my wonderful Beta Terpsichore. She is fantastic! **

Chapter 2: In the Beginning

Turning away Daniel motioned for Erik to follow him, a dark smirk pulling at the corners of his mouth as he looked back over his shoulder. "Then, by all means… follow me."

Mumbling obscenities under his breath, Erik followed Daniel after allowing the younger man a few moments to get several feet ahead. He didn't want to get too close to the arrogant ass if he could help it. A long weighted silence stretched out between them as Daniel continued to walk toward the far-off horizon. Growing impatient with their apparent lack of progress, Erik finally broke the quiet.

"Do you even know where you are going? Do not tell me they sent an incompetent to guide me on this moronic journey."

Lifting up one hand without turning to look back at his charge, Daniel flipped up his middle finger in a decidedly rude gesture. Sputtering at the boy's audacity, Erik stopped walking for a moment, then hurried to catch up. Intending to grab the young man by the shoulder and teach him a painful lesson about respect, Erik nearly lost his balance when his hand passed clear through Daniel's body. Stumbling forward, Erik actually fell partially through his deceptively solid looking companion.

Whirling about, his face losing just a bit of its color, Erik gaped at the younger man. "W-What the h-hell?"

Furiously swiping at his clothing as if wiping something disgusting onto the ground, Daniel shot Erik an affronted glare. "Did I not mention before that I was a spirit? Why are you always lunging around like a maniac? Please refrain from falling through me again… it is more than a little uncomfortable!"

"B-But you… I…" Erik babbled, more than a little unhinged by the clear evidence of Daniel's unsubstantial form. Though he had accepted his situation was odd, and that this young man was certainly unusual, an actual demonstration of Daniel's difference was just a little bit too sudden.

Looking bored now, Daniel crossed his arms over his chest. "Are you all right?" he huffed grudgingly, still more than a little miffed.

"This isn't an elaborate hallucination, is it? I had been hoping… but… but this is actually happening!"

Relaxing slightly at Erik's unsettled expression Daniel nodded. "Yes, this is real." He paused for a moment, giving Erik a few more moments to compose himself. "When you are ready we can go."

"Go? Where? There is nowhere to go! It is just endless fields!" Erik shouted, his voice coming out just a little too loud with a touch of panic.

_This is actually happening. I am speaking with a young man who isn't and has never been alive… I am actually going on a journey to see what the world would have been like without me in it._ Raising a hand to press against the pounding of his heart, Erik lowered his suddenly over-wide gaze to the ground. A dark, rolling dread began to churn deep in the pit of his stomach, making him feel lightheaded and ill. _I do not want to see the world he speaks of. I do not want to see how happy everyone will be without me. This is not what I wanted…_

Watching the color drain from Erik's face Daniel blessedly kept his mouth shut. The young man's wickedly sharp eyes softened slightly in the face of his charge's distress. He opened his mouth as if to say something, his arrogant manner all but disappearing for a brief moment. Then he seemed to rethink what he had been about to say and slowly shut his mouth.

Stepping to the side as if nothing were wrong, Daniel pointed at the plain wooden doorway that now stood erect amongst the waving flowers a few yards away. "That is our destination. If you had been paying attention instead of attacking me, you would have seen it," he said slowly, as if speaking to a young child.

Taking offense at the young man's tone, Erik managed to tamp down on the dizzying waves of fear coursing through him, completely missing the fact that his guide had already learned how to distract him from one of his dark brooding moments. _Damn if this boy doesn't have the most arrogant and snotty demeanor! I pity the poor souls who are doomed to raise this brat._ "Then do what you are supposed to and lead the way."

The hesitant gentleness in the young man's face sagged with disappointment at Erik's harsh tone, and surprisingly a touch of hurt flashed over his handsome features before being pushed aside. With a mutinous expression hardening the planes of his face into stiff lines, Daniel stood stubbornly still for a moment, glaring daggers at his unappreciative charge, obviously wanting to make it very clear that Erik's moody orders would not dictate his actions. Slowly he turned and casually walked to the door, purposely moving sluggishly out of spite. Reaching out, he turned the plain brass knob and pushed the door open. Coming up behind the younger man, Erik peered into what lay beyond the open door, but could see nothing but impenetrable darkness. Balking at the strange sight, Erik took a step back.

"What is the matter, Erik? Did you not say you wanted to get on with your journey?" Daniel asked with a deceptive calm, his eyes directed straight forward into the nothingness that waited beyond. "I think I am beginning to understand you. You act as if this will not affect you, but… Perhaps you are not as uncaring as you pretend to be. It must be frightening to wonder at the reason for your existence. That perhaps without you the world would be better…"

Growling at how easily this boy was reading him, Erik pursed his lips into a thin line. "Do not be ridiculous. You have no idea what you are talking about."

Shrugging easily, Daniel took a step forward. "Perhaps you are right."

Taking another step forward, Daniel's body began to melt into the shadows within the doorway. Watching the young man disappearing before his eyes, Erik hastily followed upon his heels, not wanting to be left behind despite his general dislike of his guide. The urge to reach out and grab the younger man's shoulder so as to not lose him in the dark proved difficult to resist. _I do not need him… do not be stupid. You have never been afraid of the dark._ But somehow these reasonable thoughts could do nothing to put a dent in the uneasiness shifting within him. Closing his eyes in order to blot out the sight of his own body vanishing into the darkness, Erik took a deep breath and stepped quickly forward.

His foot came down not upon solid ground but air. Losing his balance, Erik stumbled, his hands shooting out before him in a vain effort to catch himself. Landing roughly face first on an uneven dirt road he lay still for a moment in order to calm his breathing, coughing raggedly when the small cloud of the upset dust filled his lungs. Slowly raising himself up onto his hands and knees he grimaced and gingerly turned his hands over to check for scrapes. Finding no bodily injury, despite the burning pain shooting up both his arms, Erik slowly climbed to his feet, dusting his clothing off as he straightened.

Daniel stood a few paces away, one hip leaning nonchalantly against a white picket fence, his attention focused not upon Erik but upon the charming little cottage nestled close to the road. Furious that the young man managed to look so collected now when Erik knew he himself must look like a rumpled, dirt-covered peasant, he strode forward with the unreasonable desire to pound the insufferable arrogance from the spirit's face.

Finally turning to watch Erik's approach, Daniel calmly met the older man's thunderous gaze without blinking an eye. "You know they told me you were a very intelligent man… but I am beginning to think they lied. Are you seriously thinking about trying to hit me again when you know it is useless?"

Feeling the sting of Daniel's words, Erik stopped just short of where the young man stood. Once again the stupid boy was right, an occurrence that was beginning to rub Erik in the wrong way. It had been a long time since anyone had managed to make him feel foolish, usually he considered a situation from all angles before acting, but now, faced with the unusual need to socially interact with another human being, Erik found himself lacking. Lowering his hands to his sides he abandoned his temperamental plan.

"Excuse my temper… I forgot myself for a moment," he snarled.

A flash of surprise flickered across Daniel's face at Erik's apology and a pleased smile began to pull at the corners of the boy's mouth. "Yes, well… it is all right now, I suppose. I know what it is like to lose my temper." As the smile grew, the young man lost some of his aloof arrogance, appearing for the first time to have a smidgeon of good humor. All of a sudden he looked much younger than he did before, appearing perhaps to merely be in his late teens rather than mid-twenties as Erik had first thought. "We are alike in that at least. Hmm, that is most likely why you dislike me so much now…"

Blowing out an annoyed hiss Erik jerked his head to the side, refusing to look at his companion. He wasn't surprised at how uncomfortable he was now that the anger within him was fading. He never seemed to have the talent of conversing easily with other people, and this Daniel boy was no exception. "Yes, well, do not think that means you can address me so informally now. You are here to torture me with this misguided quest… nothing more."

With his smile slowly fading, Daniel's expression lost some of it boyishness, cooling to the more sober lines that Erik had come to know. Just as Daniel was learning to read Erik's tempers so Erik was also learning just how to squash the young man's gentler moments. "Fine," Daniel snapped, pushing away from the fence with short jerky movements.

Walking stiffly to the small gate in the fence's front, he stormed through the opening and down the short path towards the house. Standing in the road looking after him, Erik frowned at the weak sense of guilt that was worming its way into his gut. _Just now… it wasn't anger that I saw. It was hurt. What I said hurt him… Dammit… I will not feel bad for that. What do I care about this stupid child anyway?_ Silently following after Daniel's quickly retreating form, Erik carefully closed the gate behind him. _But… I wonder… why in the world does he seem to care so much… even though he is trying to hide it…_

Shrugging his questions off, Erik finally raised his eyes to the house he was approaching. What he saw brought him to a staggering halt several feet away from the small front stoop. The structure was a quaint two-story cottage which boasted no interesting architectural motifs or any outstanding attributes; nothing to indicate the important place it held in his heart. He knew this house, knew it well. This was the house he had been born in.

Raising a hand up to press against the disorientation swirling about his head, Erik stared up at the quiet building. Nothing was missing from the vision standing before him. It was correct to down to the very last detail. A small crack in the downstairs window reminded him of the summer storm that had blown so wildly that the glass broke and the second stair to the porch was warped just as he remembered. It matched the replica he had constructed within his mind so precisely that for a moment he was sure he must be five years old again.

Daniel turned just shy of the front door and looked back at him. "Come on, then… weren't you in a hurry to get this over with?"

Shaking himself out of the almost overpowering sense of déjà vu that was paralyzing his limbs, Erik numbly started forward and climbed the stairs. _Stop staring like an idiot at every little thing. _Moving across the small porch Erik felt a shiver of memory chill his skin when a board creaked under his feet, just as it always had done when he was a child. Following Daniel into the entranceway, he tried not to glance to either side for fear he would see more ghostly memories of his childhood in solid form. _I have tried so hard to forget this place. Seeing it now… is like a nightmare…_

Keeping his eyes straight ahead; his entire body tensing up as if preparing for a blow, Erik silently followed his guide up the small winding staircase that led to the second floor. Pulling his shoulders upward in an unconscious attempt to prevent any part of his limbs from accidentally brushing against the walls, he climbed the stairs with all the gravity of one climbing to his own execution. When they reached the second floor, the loud keening cries of a woman in pain broke the nightmarish silence of the place. Startled out of his growing panic, Erik turned his eyes to the room at the end of the hallway: his mother's room.

Without pausing to allow for his charge's uneasiness, Daniel strode forward and into the room where the noises were coming from. As he drew closer Erik could hear several voices speaking over the pained cries; voices that he was sure he recognized. Closing his eyes he stepped into the room after Daniel, fearing all the while what he was about to see.

A plain, haggard-looking woman stood at the end of the bed, her concentration focused entirely upon the very pregnant woman struggling before her. "It is almost here. Just a little further."

The pregnant woman, her dark glossy hair matted to her face, merely gritted her teeth in response and held tighter onto the whey-faced woman standing next to her. It took Erik a moment, but after a few stunned seconds he recognized the woman on the bed. It was his mother. She had always been so composed, so beautiful, in all his earliest memories that it was rather shocking to see her in such a disheveled state. As the shock of this revelation settled into his consciousness, he dully recognized the woman his mother was holding onto as well as her dearest childhood friend.

"What is this? I don't remember anything about this…" he murmured slowly.

"No, I wouldn't think you would remember this day. This is the day you should have been born."

"What do you mean should have?"

"Watch and you will see," came the short reply.

During their short conversation the sounds before them had slowly petered off into a tense quiet. The midwife stood stiff and silent, looking down at the slimy bundle she held in her hands. Sitting up further upon the pillows, Erik's mother flicked a lock of hair out of her eyes, a worried line appearing between her brows.

"What is it? Is something wrong? Why hasn't he cried yet?"

Jerking her eyes up, the midwife hurriedly began wrapping what she held in her hands in a small blanket. "I am sorry, Madame… this one wasn't meant to make it."

"What?" Erik's mother whispered brokenly.

With a touch of panic brightening her eyes the midwife nodded and dropped the bundle into the empty crib waiting nearby, backing away slowly toward the open door behind her. "It… he isn't breathing… and blue as a winter sky. Count it a blessing, Madame… and call a priest to cleanse the poor creature's soul."

"Wait, where are you going!"

"I will tell the Father to come right away, Madame…" the midwife cried before whirling and running out of the room, leaving Erik's mother pale-faced and frightened, clinging to her friend's hand in a desperate need of support. As she weakly began to crawl towards the end of the bed, time seemed to slow, freezing the terror in her expression until her movements came to a complete stop just before she could peer over into the crib below.

Stepping forward, Daniel gazed down into the baby bed where the blankets lay still over the small form within. Squatting down, he laid a hand upon the covers gently. Watching all of this with a growing sense of confusion, Erik likewise moved forward. "I still do not understand what is…" choking off in mid-sentence Erik caught sight of the small face peeking out from under the blankets in the crib. It was his face.

Staggering backward, Erik raised a hand as if to protect himself from the sight before him, but nothing could tear the image of his own small, distorted face from his mind. "W-What is this?"

"Like I said… the day you were supposed to be born," Daniel said evenly as he got to his feet. "I figured we should start at the beginning. And this is the very beginning of this world. In this world you never took a single living breath. This is a world completely untouched by you… completely without you."

"I… I do not know what to say… this… this is not what I expected."

"No, I don't suppose it would be." Leaving the cradle behind, Daniel walked to the bedroom door and quietly pushed it shut. "Are you ready to move on, then?"

Barely able to form a coherent thought, Erik stood immobile in the center of the room, his eyes glued to the frozen woman on the bed. _This is too strange… she is so much younger than I remembered… younger than I am now. _"Are you insane? I can hardly even begin to convey how all this feels…"

A deep, long forgotten corner of his psyche turned over within him, stirred by the sight of his mother's frozen beauty. Tiny details he had never noticed in his youth struck him as vitally important now. She had sweet wide eyes and pert mouth more suited to smiles than frowns. _My memory of her is so different from this… she was always so guarded… so righteously angry that I never noticed these things… _"How can you so calmly ask to go… so soon?" _When I stupidly want to stay… to remember her this way… before she was burdened with me._

"You cannot stay here…" Daniel said gently, his irritation with Erik, though quick and hot less than fifteen minutes ago, apparently lessened as time passed. "We will only be jumping ahead a few years… you will see her again. But you must come with me."

Reluctantly tearing his eyes away from where his mother crouched upon the bed, Erik glanced Daniel's way vaguely, the grip of a terrible sense of dread again tightening around his heart. "Do you mean to say we are going to see what her life would have been like without me?"

"Yes… are you afraid to see this?"

Schooling his features into a dark scowl, Erik fought to keep a hold upon his composure. "I fear nothing you may show me. I already know what I am going to see… there would be no point… to dread it," he murmured, trying to sound more certain than he felt, desperate to convince himself of what he said.

Not looking entirely convinced, Daniel merely turned and opened the bedroom door, revealing a wall of black, impenetrable shadow rather than the hall beyond. "Move slower this time around… you lose your balance again if you rush," he advised just before disappearing into the waiting void beyond the door.

Hesitating long enough to cast one last look over his shoulder at the frozen scene behind him, Erik leaned one hand lightly against the doorjamb, steeling himself for what he already knew was to come. Taking a deep breath, he stepped slowly into the waiting black inside the door, making sure to go slowly as Daniel had advised. The ground shifted under his feet and for a split second he could not see anything around him, but then slowly the darkness began to fade like a dissipating fog. Blinking rapidly, Erik found himself standing in an unfamiliar house. One that was slightly larger and decidedly better furnished than the one of his childhood.

Trying to orient himself, Erik looked about the quaintly stylish parlor, at a complete loss as to what he should do. Daniel solved his dilemma when he stepped into the room from the hallway. "All right, come with me."

Nodding vaguely, Erik followed the younger man, his eyes hurriedly scanning over every detail of their surroundings. _Where am I now? Not the house I grew up in. This is not as simple a home… it is higher in class, if only slightly. _Turning his attention to Daniel's back, Erik opened his mouth to ask where they were, but closed it again at the last second, instinctively fearing the answer he would receive. As they wound their way through the hallways and toward the back of the house, the sound of childish laughter could be heard tinkling in the air. Coming into the kitchen, Erik froze in the doorway at the sight of his mother laughingly cooking eggs upon the stove, a beautiful little girl of about three pulling insistently upon her skirts. It was the toddler's giggling they had been hearing from down the hallway.

Swatting gently at the hands upon her skirts, Erik's mother continued to stir the cooking food. "Be patient and wait a little longer."

"But I am hungry now!" the child whined imploringly.

Tensing up from his voyeur's perspective in the doorway, Erik waited for the stern lines of impatience to crease his mother's brow, the cruelty to light her eyes. He would never have dared to speak to her with such a demanding air when he was young. But as he continued to watch his mother merely smiled benignly down at the pestering child and continued on with her work. Moving to place the food onto three waiting plates, she expertly carried everything over to the kitchen table. Just as she was placing the last plate onto the tabletop a kind-faced man strode into the room, a newspaper tucked under one arm.

"Something smells wonderful!" he announced brightly, striding across the kitchen to place a kiss upon the little girl's head. Looking up at Erik's mother, the stranger straightened and cupped one of her cheeks gently in his hand. "I bet it tastes wonderful too."

With a smile that lit the room, Erik's mother turned her face and placed a kiss against the man's open palm. "I made your favorite."

"You know you don't have to do this every morning. I am making enough now that we can afford a servant."

Shaking her head Erik's mother pulled back and helped the small child situate herself at the table. "But I like doing things for my family. It makes me happy!"

Setting his paper onto the tabletop, the man let out a sigh. "Well, so long as it makes you happy…"

His breath quickening in his chest, Erik slowly felt the hands at his sides close into fists. _Do not feel so surprised… you expected it to be different from how it was with you…Do not be surprised…_ A fine trembling started deep within his center and slowly began to spread, encompassing his entire body. Staring at his mother's face he watched it light up with that same blissfully happy smile over and over again. A smile he had never before seen in his life. He hadn't even known she could look like that, look so completely pleased.

Unable to stand the sight of her bright expression one more second, Erik turned his face away, staring fixedly at the floor. The tremor within him quickly grew into a visible shaking as he listened to the light breakfast conversation of the other people in the room. The laughter and breezy teasing grew within his ears, echoing until he could hear nothing else. _It hurts… why does it hurt so much to see her like this? _ Without even realizing his intentions he whirled about and took off in a dead run down the hallway, knowing that if he heard one more sound of happiness, saw one more evidence of bliss, that he would surely go mad.

Tearing through the front door of the house, Erik staggered down the front steps and into the front yard, his legs going to water underneath him as he struggled to get even further away. Sinking to the ground when he could no longer hold himself up, he let his hands fall limply into his lap and stared sightlessly at the perfectly manicured lawn and flower beds that he was resting in. _She is happy… I have never seen her so happy. And it is because I am not here… she remarried… had another child. A perfect… beautiful child. I am not here… and she couldn't be happier._

White, blinding pain surged through him, battering against the fortress he had spent a lifetime building around his heart. Sagging under the force of the blow, he planted his hands in the grass, wide-eyed horror pulling at his features as he slowly tore at the plants. _It hurts… dammit… it hurts. I knew this is what it would be like, but still… still it hurts. _Closing his eyes, he bit back a sob when the picture of his mother's smiling face invaded his mind. Distantly he felt a wet warmth fall down his cheeks before falling to the ground. _I cannot stand it… I cannot bear this pain… sending me to hell would have been a reprieve over this torture…_

The sound of footsteps reached him through the fog of his grief and he struggled to find one shred of control amongst the chaos swirling in his mind, but found his efforts in vain. Opening his eyes, he lifted his head up to see Daniel hurrying across the yard towards him. The young man, with his sharp tongue and unexpected compassion, was the last person in the world he wanted near him.

"Do not come near me…" Erirk growled low in his throat.

Hesitating slightly at Erik's tone, Daniel halted a few feet away, his mouth opening as if he were about to speak. The worry in the young man's eyes, worry for him, was enough to spark the undercurrents of anger within Erik into a rolling fury powerful enough to push aside the grief. Before Daniel could say anything, Erik relaxed his hold on the grass and straightened. "Well, you must be happy now… you and the rest of the God-damned Heavenly host."

"No, of course not…" Daniel began sincerely. "I would never wish this type of pain upon anyone."

"And yet you gladly lead me to this place… knowing what I would see."

"You knew too… didn't you?" Daniel replied as he carefully took a few steps forward. "But this is not all there is to see. This is not the only person you affected in your lifetime."

Staring up at the younger man with a fierce animalistic snarl, Erik felt the fury solidify into a black hate within his heart. "No, I will not prolong this malicious torture. I have seen enough. As you said, I knew what waited for me here, but I came anyway. I will not make the same mistake again! Take me back! Take me back so that I can die!"

Shaking his head slowly, Daniel met Erik's burning gaze evenly, if just a little sadly. "I cannot take you back. Once the journey is begun it can not come to an end until it is finished. The only way for you to return to your world is to finish with this one."

Breathing heavily, Erik reached up and roughly swiped the remaining tears from his face, the shame at being seen in such a weak state driving his rage to even further heights. "You cannot make me do what you want. I can simply stay here…" Only after the words were out of his mouth did he realize how childish that sounded.

Neither Daniel's stance nor his expression faltered as he stuffed his hands into his pants pockets. "Yes, I suppose you could simply sit there forever. But that would leave the lesson only half learned."

"What lesson? There is no lesson here! I know she hated me! Her eyes told me often enough when I was small even if her words did not! I knew she would have been happier without me! It was just all the damnable theatrics that shook my nerves. Seeing it was different than knowing it. There is no lesson in this… only punishment."

Tilting his head to the side, Daniel studied Erik thoughtfully, his expression thankfully free of the pity Erik had feared to see there. "Do you hate her for it? Hate her for never treating you as a mother should?" he asked gently.

Startled by the question Erik didn't reply right away. The sorrow welled up within him as the boy's words floated about his mind. _Do I hate her?_ "That is none of your business!" he finally was able to shout.

"Do you?" Daniel insisted doggedly.

"If I could I would kill you for asking such a thing…"

"Do you want me to ask again?"

Feeling trapped by the young man's words, Erik struggled to gather his fury more securely around him, but felt it begin to dissipate despite his efforts leaving a gnawing emptiness deep inside his gut. _Do I hate her? _"No… no I do not hate her. I never could. I ran away when I was eight years old to allow her to move on without me… because I loved her so."

Satisfied by that answer, Daniel moved closer and knelt at Erik's side. "So there is forgiveness still living within you… that means there is still time."

"I do not want to see anything else…"

Sighing heavily, Daniel reached out to touch Erik's face, his fingers leaving nothing but a slightly warm sensation in their wake as they passed through Erik's skin. "I am afraid you do not have a choice." And before Erik could formulate a reply, the deep darkness that had lain inside the doorways up until now settled around them, spiriting him away to yet another unknown destination.


	3. The Angel of Music

**Hey everyone! I just want to give a huge shout out to all of you guys who have been reviewing for this story. You are all great and really help me to keep the creative juices flowing. So thanks! And of course I have to say how wonderful my beta Terpsichore was on this chapter. She got it done in record time. **

Chapter 3: The Angel of Music

Floating weightlessly within the impenetrable darkness that twice now had transported him to his own personal hells, Erik was afraid to open his eyes. Even as he felt the hardness of a floor materialize beneath him, he refused to see where he had appeared, wanting to prolong the blissfully numb moments within the shadows. But as he heard the world settle into being around him, he had no choice but to stop fighting the inevitable and face whatever new pain lay in wait for him.

Raising a shaky hand up to his face, he slowly cracked one eye open and peered cautiously up at the high ceiling through his fingers. After a tense moment, with every fiber of his being waiting for something terrible to descend upon him, he relented and opened his other eye. For several heartbeats he lay perfectly still, to tired to move, allowing only his eyes to sweep over the seemingly chaotic web of ropes and pulleys that hung above him. Taking a deep breath, he tried to dispel the lingering sorrow burning brightly within his chest, but found that he simply did not have the energy.

The sight of his mother, happy and carefree in a way he had never seen before, had simply been too much to bear. The fortress he had carefully constructed about his heart had come tumbling down after just one of her smiles. It had just been too much. _It is strange that I have spent so many years trying to forget her… and yet she was perhaps the one thing that could bring me so low so quickly. I wonder if that blasted boy knew that…_

As if the mere thought of him brought him into being, Daniel's voice piped up from Erik's right. "So are you going to lie there all day?"

Turning his face from the sound, Erik did his best to ignore the boy. The hurt within him began to press in ever closer, making it difficult to breathe as he stared across the room at a shelf filled with an odd assortment of papier-mâché masks. _I always knew that I was the bane of her existence. She often told me so herself. But somehow, despite all that, I secretly wanted to believe that she cared for me… if just a tiny bit. Seeing her like that… happy… it crushes that stupid little hope. God… it hurts._

Just as he began to slip deeper into the darkness of his own mind, something sharp jabbed him in the side of his ribs, effectively startling him out of his black thoughts. Jerking instinctively away from the pressure, Erik hastily sat up, looking for the offending party with murder in his eyes. It took him mere seconds to spot Daniel squatting nearby with what appeared to be a fencing foil in his hands – a fencing foil that was still stabbing Erik in the side.

Violently swiping at the harmless weapon, Erik pounded a fist into the floor. "OW! What is the matter with you, boy! Have you taken leave of your senses or are you just stupid? You cannot go around stabbing people with a thing like that! Consider yourself lucky that I do not break your hands for the offense!" Erik bellowed.

A slow, devil-take-it smirk spread across Daniel's face. "Break my hands? As if you could," he mocked without the slightest hint of remorse. "But I thought these things weren't supposed to hurt."

"They are tipped, but that does not mean…"

Before Erik could continue his tirade, Daniel brazenly dared to raise the sword to poke him in the chin. "Oh, I see… so that little ball on the end is the tip… fascinating."

Having had more than enough to set his temper off, Erik grabbed the foil and ripped it out of Daniel's hands. Leaping to his feet, he hurled the weapon against a nearby wall. Turning, he advanced upon where the young man was straightening from his squat, the urge to murder the annoying brat racing through his head. Only when he was a few feet from Daniel did he remember that his vengeful thoughts were for nothing, he couldn't touch the boy. _Damn, damn, damn! _ At a loss as to where to direct the rage boiling within him, Erik felt as if he were on the verge of exploding. He had never encountered a situation such as this before, where he was forced to contain and control his temper. In the end all he could do was to drop his hands to his sides and stand rigidly in the middle of the floor.

Watching all this with a great deal of interest glittering in his eyes, Daniel chose that moment to speak. "So have you figured out where we are yet?" he asked lightly, obviously not in the least affected by Erik's volatile displays.

"Sorry, I was too busy trying to figure a way to bash your brains out," Erik snapped, still too angry to take the time to look at anything but Daniel's face.

Allowing a mean smile to flash across his features, Daniel gave a shrug. "I see… so you can only do one thing at a time. No wonder this is all taking so long."

Opening his mouth with a caustic reply burning on his lips, Erik stopped when he suddenly realized something. He wasn't thinking about his mother anymore. Taken aback by this he slowly relaxed his stance, frowning darkly over at Daniel. _He didn't act surprised by my reaction… Strange… it is almost like he did all of this on purpose. _

A tentative shiver of respect for his young guide began to take root in the temperamental landscape of Erik's heart at this thought. No one had ever taken the time to get to know him well enough to be able to so expertly play upon his vices as this boy was. It was remarkable and just slightly touching. The unfamiliar sentiment he felt stirring within him was quickly becoming disconcerting and he hurried to cut it off before it got out of control. _Feh, impossible! The boy isn't doing anything of the sort… annoying brat._

Having a great deal of the poisonous feelings of his earliest days evaporate under the heat of his temper Erik felt strangely calmer than he did before, more himself. He hurriedly gathered what remained of his composure and tamped down the lingering wisps of pain floating through his heart. _Put her from your mind… it was nothing you didn't expect, so put it from your mind. _Able once again to think with a certain level of rationality, he finally took the time to take stock of his surroundings. Along one wall ran a series of shelves with a wide variety of masks seated upon them, and gathered in a corner were racks upon racks of brightly colored costumes. _Props and costumes… _Finally he knew where he was.

Groaning Erik raised a hand to rake down the front of his face, trying to deny what he saw before him. "You brought me to the Opera House?" he muttered roughly under his breath.

Nodding slowly, Daniel stuffed his hands into his pockets and followed Erik's gaze around the room, the almost purposeful meanness in his demeanor fading to softer tones. "Yes, it seems the logical next stop, since we are visiting all the people whose lives were changed by yours. I suppose you know why we are here, then?"

_He brought me to see her… to see Christine again. _Clenching his teeth, Erik battled the nearly overpowering wash of longing that swept through him. It shamed him, that despite her betrayal and the pain she had caused him, that he still loved her enough to feel weak from the need to see her. _I am the biggest sort of fool… because even now with my very soul ripped and bleeding from her… I still feel… happy to see her again. _

"I am to see Christine, I suppose," Erik said slowly, not wanting the hope in his heart to leak into his voice. He would be damned before he allowed Daniel to see just how weak his will truly was. It was bad enough what the boy had already witnessed.

"Yes you are." Tilting his head slightly to the side, Daniel studied Erik with a troubling sort of clarity burning within his eyes. "Does it make you happy or sad? When I first saw you, you were distraught."

"That is none of your business," Erik snapped harshly, ignoring the small desire within him to share his thoughts with his young guide.

Sighing heavily, Daniel was unable to hide the disappointment that crept into his expression. "Fine… I do not know why I asked. I suppose I just wanted to be able to understand you better."

"Feh, what reasons could you possibly have to want to know things about me?" Erik blurted, finally feeling as if he had a slight advantage over the need to confide in Daniel.

Meeting Erik's gaze unflinchingly, Daniel schooled his features into impassive lines, but in his eyes there was a strange lingering sadness. "I have my reasons. None of which I am willing to share with you now. You are definitely not ready."

"Not like I really cared in the first place," Erik replied, suddenly impatient to leave this room and get on with his journey. The journey that he knew would lead him back to Christine.

Staring at Erik a moment longer as if he wanted to say something more, Daniel finally turned and headed out one of the room's doors. "Follow me then."

Trailing after Daniel, Erik found himself walking along familiar passages. Passing the ballet practice rooms and some of the singer's dressing rooms, he had the strange sensation of coming home after a long absence. They skirted around a small group of stagehands as the men heaved upon a heavy rope, raising the detailed backdrop of a moonlit landscape into place. Everything was exactly as it should be, exactly as Erik had seen it for the years he had spent living beneath the Opera House, except, of course, for the fact that for the first time he found himself walking among the theater's occupants rather than watching them from the shadows.

Leading the way to the stage, Daniel strode out into the middle of a fairly intense dress rehearsal, completely unmindful of getting in the way. Slightly more cautious, Erik followed, pausing now and then to duck out of the way when a dancer strayed too close. Coming up alongside his young guide, Erik began to feel his skin prickle uncomfortably. He wasn't used to being surrounded by so many people, even if they couldn't see him, and it was beginning to make him extremely nervous.

"So where is she?" Erik asked quickly, his eyes scanning the lead singers and less noticeable chorus members. "I do not see her in the chorus… is she not in this scene?"

Making a small humming sound in the back of his throat, Daniel looked slightly surprised by Erik's question. "So you haven't noticed her then?"

Annoyed by the implication in Daniel's words, Erik glared at the boy. "Well, if she isn't here, then how can I?"

"Oh, she is here… but she isn't with the singers."

Startled by this, Erik stared at Daniel blankly for several moments. The thought that she wouldn't be singing upon the stage hadn't even crossed his mind. "What do you mean, she isn't with the singers? That is what she does. She sings…"

Shaking his head, Daniel turned his attention towards the back of the stage. "Wrong… she sang with you as her teacher. Without you… she would never have had the courage or the drive."

Following Daniel's gaze, Erik caught sight of the ballerinas warming up for their solos. At the very back, behind all the others, he spotted a dark-haired girl with large deadened eyes, making a halfhearted attempt at her routine. At first Erik hardly recognized her pale, blank features, but after a moment he realized that the girl was Christine. Staring back at her, Erik couldn't quite put the ghostly, sad child before him in the same category as the bright, sweet girl he had known. The Christine dancing now hardly even resembled the one he carried in his heart. Her eyes held nothing but sorrow, her movements were correct but held no feeling, it was if he were watching a ghost rather than a real person.

Sucking in an uneven breath, Erik started forward, quickly weaving his way through the crowd of dancers to stand directly in front of Christine's delicately twirling form. Her dark eyes didn't even flicker in his direction, but merely passed over him to stare off into the distance. Stupidly he had hoped she would see him, that their undeniably strong connection would allow her to feel him there with her, but her gaze remained dark and unfocused. Stunned to the very core of his being by what he was seeing, Erik felt the need to reach out and gather her small body in his arms, to soothe away the despair with his voice, but he knew he could do neither and it made the wounds in his heart bleed anew.

Without taking his eyes off of the sad, broken girl before him, Erik couldn't hold his tongue any longer. "What did you do to her? It is if she isn't even here… as if she is already dead," he gasped in a horrified whisper.

Coming up alongside Erik, Daniel shook his head sadly. "When her father died, Madame Giry brought her to the Opera's dormitories so that she might be trained as a dancer."

"Yes, I know that… I first saw her just after one of those practices…" Erik bit out, finally directing his gaze toward where Daniel stood next to him, bright spots of anger beginning to break through the shock of seeing his former pupil in such a deplorable state.

"No, you did not…" Daniel replied.

Baring his teeth in a fierce scowl, Erik moved to grab the boy by the front of his shirt, but stopped himself at the last second. "Do not toy with me! What are you talking about!" he flared.

"You did not see her after practice… not in this world at least. She never met you, never heard you singing to her at night. There was no angelic comfort for her to cling to and to bring her out of the sorrow of her father's death. She had no one who understood her pain and so she could not climb free of it; she has been silently drowning in it for years now."

His temper cooling, Erik slowly turned his eyes back to Christine. "What…" he whispered, remembering just how deeply she had mourned her father after he had died. Never once had he thought about what his gentle nighttime songs had meant to her, hadn't even considered what her life would have been like without the comfort of his voice.

"Yes, but that still does not explain why she is not singing… not even in the chorus. She still has the talent… with or without me. She should be the star of the show."

"You do not see the connection?" Daniel asked quietly, the question completely free of the boy's usual sharp sarcasm. When Erik could only shake his head in the negative, Daniel explained. "Without some guiding force to give her a purpose outside of her grief, she never found the strength to move past her father's death. Life to her is just a passing of time, a collection of minutes. It holds no meaning beyond the pain she feels. How would one such as that seek her fortune as a singer? It would be impossible. She never took lessons… never trained her raw talent... and she will never sing before an audience at the Opera Populaire. Without your strength she could not find her own."

Not really believing what he was hearing, Erik took a step forward. "No, you are wrong!" Reaching out he tried to take Christine's small hand, but his fingers passed through hers as if she weren't even there. A deep echoing sorrow began to collect within him as he stared into her lifeless eyes. "She should be happy without me… as my mother was. All I ever wanted was to be with her… and make her happy."

"Unfortunately, this is not the end of her story, Erik. There is more to see."

All activity upon the stage came to a sudden stop after Daniel's words, with every performer's eyes turned to stare as three gentlemen stepped into their midst. Recognizing the Opera managers, Andre and Firmin, walking on either side of Raoul de Chagny, Erik let out a deep sigh. Strangely relieved by the young lord's appearance, Erik felt some of the twisting sickness within his gut ease. "Well, at least the boy looks his usual insipid self. Now that he is here, she should snap out of this… Damn I never thought such words would come out of my mouth!"

"You truly did love her, didn't you?" Daniel murmured with a certain level of awe in his hushed tone. "To be glad to see your rival because it may make her happy… That truly is the kindest thing I think I have ever heard you say."

"Shut up, boy… I am trying to see what happens!"

Buttoning up his lips, with a secret satisfaction burning in his eyes, Daniel for once did as he was told. Standing at Erik's side, he watched as the two managers introduced Raoul to the cast. Practically vibrating with unexpressed tension, Erik shifted from foot to foot as the Opera's new patron drew closer to where Christine was standing. Turning his eyes to his former pupil, Erik was dismayed to find that not only was the blank sorrow still stamped across Christine's features, but that she hadn't even looked up at the vicomte's approach.

Feeling some of the disgruntled hope within him fizzle, then fade, Erik's shoulders slumped. Raoul and the managers strolled right by where Erik stood unseen next to Christine, the young lord's attention never for a moment straying to the still and unremarkable dancer as he passed. A pretty blonde girl, whom Erik recognized as Meg Giry, came up behind Christine then, her tawny colored eyes alight with laughter and life.

"Isn't it exciting, Christine? To have such a handsome new patron?" Meg asked her solemn friend.

Finally raising her eyes from the floor to follow Raoul's departure, Christine gave an unconcerned shrug. "Yes, I suppose," she said without any true interest.

Sighing heavily, Meg took Christine's hand in her own. "Always so serious, Christine. Does nothing make you happy?"

Braving a smile for her friend's benefit, Christine finally seemed to come alive, if only for a moment. "Sorry, Meg… I was just thinking of something else."

"Daydreaming again? About what?"

"Raoul De Chagny… I knew him once. I suppose you could say we were childhood sweethearts," Christine supplied softly.

Delighted by this revelation, Meg let out an excited squeal. "That is so romantic! Perhaps it is destiny that he is here now? You were fated to meet again!"

Shaking her head absently, Christine shuffled a foot across the floor. "Do not be silly; he doesn't even remember me."

"Maybe he didn't see you!"

"No!" Christine said, her voice turning sharp. "No… that was a long time ago. Before my father died. I was a different person then… and… and fate and fairy tales are just make-believe." When Meg's expression fell, Christine softened her stance. "But if a fairy tale were to happen to anyone, it would be you, Meg. One day someone wonderful is bound to come and sweep you off your feet… just like you have always dreamed…"

Her smile dampened, Meg merely nodded. "Well, I suppose we should get back to work… mother will be furious if practice is delayed any longer than needed." Turning, Meg moved off to reclaim her proper position, leaving Christine alone once more.

With a deep, burning frustration building within his chest, Erik watched Raoul and the managers disappear from view, his desperate hopes vanishing with them. "There has to be something... I cannot bear to see her like this," he muttered to himself as the darkness once again claimed Christine's young features, aging her right before his eyes. "Surely someone else could have helped her in my stead. In all those years I cannot believe that there was no one…"

"Oh, some tried…" Daniel said as all activity upon the stage came to a halt, every actor and dancer frozen in mid-action. "The Girys did their best. But it was your voice singing to her at night that made her believe that she was not alone. You understood her pain because it was a reflection of your own. No one else in the world could have taken that place. Only you had the power to do what you did… because only you understood the darkness that lay within her heart."

Not wanting to listen to the truth he heard in Daniel's words, Erik spun away from his guide. In his entire life he could have counted the times he had felt useful or needed upon one hand. So to have this boy tell him that Christine had depended upon him, and him alone, was simply too difficult to take in. "You are wrong… it wasn't anything I did…"

Stepping around a frozen chorus member and into Erik's line of sight, Daniel pursed his lips into a stern line. "You keep denying what I say but the proof is all around you. Everything you see here is a fact… if you had never lived, _this_ is exactly what would have happened."

In the very back of Erik's mind he knew that Daniel was right. He had seen how delicate Christine's mind and heart had been all those years he had tutored her. It had taken a great deal of time for the wounds upon her heart to heal under his care. But he had never once considered what would have happened to her without his guidance. The possibility that she might have benefited from knowing him was just unimaginable, especially considering what happened in the end, how he had come so close to destroying the very thing he loved the most.

The helplessness, the frustration, the hurt all concentrated within him and slowly transformed into black, boiling anger, anger that he was quick to direct at his companion. "Why did you bring me here? To torture me further? Was it not enough punishment to see my mother happy? Why did you bring me here to see Christine like this? Has my heart not been broken enough in my lifetime!"

"There was a reason that you saw Christine as she is. Can you not see why?"

Raising his hands to drag through his hair, Erik whirled and stalked away, unable to have Christine's sad eyes staring sightlessly at him a moment more. "NO! I cannot see anything except that you are to be my tormentor! You keep speaking that there is a lesson to be learned… but I see only pain! There is no lesson here… I am learning nothing!"

Appearing out of nowhere in Erik's path, Daniel held his hands out in a halting motion. "Is it so hard to believe that you might have done some good in your lifetime? That there was a purpose for your existence?" Daniel asked hurriedly, the compassion of his steady gaze cutting Erik clear to the bone.

Feeling the anger within him falter in the face of such unexpected caring, Erik turned his eyes to the floor. "Yes… yes it is," he ground out through clenched teeth.

"But can you see it now?" Daniel prodded gently.

Clenching his hands at his sides Erik shot his guide a dark glare. "Are you trying to suggest that all the years I spent in agony… suffering through the ignorance of others… was worth the pain? That I should be glad… because I made a small difference? Because I do not feel grateful!"

"Small difference?" Daniel repeated slowly, obviously thinking those words over carefully. "Do you think that what you did for Christine was _small_? You changed her life by being with her."

"One fluke of fate…"

"Do you still regret being born, then?" Daniel asked, doggedly continuing on despite Erik's fierce gaze.

Hesitating a moment, Erik considered the question. _No… seeing Christine like this… it would be worth all the pain just to see her happy again. _Not willing to reveal this to Daniel, Erik crossed his arms over his chest. "Yes… as I said I still do not see the great lesson you are trying to teach…"

His shoulders sagging slightly, Daniel tilted his head back to gaze up at the ceiling, looking for some patience somewhere amongst the catwalks above him. For a moment the vibrant young man's form seemed to waver and fade, like a candle caught in a strong draft, but when Erik blinked Daniel appeared his usual self again. Bringing his eyes slowly back down to where Erik stubbornly glared at him, Daniel sighed tiredly. "Are you sure?"

A dizzying moment of panic wormed its way through Erik's blood as he hurriedly studied his traveling companion. _I must have been seeing things… the boy looks fine now. Not that I care anyway… _Sticking out his chin defiantly, determined to push away the panic within him, Erik allowed a sneer to pull up one corner of his mouth. "I am sure… you have failed, boy. Do not take it too hard. Now take me back so that I can get on with my death."

Tilting his head slightly to one side, Daniel merely observed Erik's arrogant pose for a few moments. "So you think that this is the end?"

"Yes… Christine and my mother… they were the two people whose lives I touched by being alive. I have seen both scenarios and remain unconvinced. So suck it up and take me back to where I belong."

"Ah… I see... so you think they were the only ones."

Seeing the ghost of a smile flicker briefly over Daniel's features, Erik began to feel some of his confidence fade. "Yes…"

Stuffing his hands into his pockets, Daniel shook his head. "Well, you would be wrong… again. But unfortunately I cannot be taking you back just yet, Erik… The lesson you are here to learn is one that cannot ignored. You must continue on until you realize the reasons for the things that have happened in your life."

"Continue on? But there is no one else!"

"That is where you are wrong… there are many others whose lives would have been altered had you never been born. You simply have not met them yet. Shall I introduce you?"

As Erik watched a door appeared at Daniel's side. It slowly swung open on its own, revealing the all-too-familiar darkness within. Taking a step back, Erik shied from this new development. Moments ago he had been certain that this journey would be at an end and that he would finally be able to rest, that he would be free of the disturbing influence of his guide upon his senses, but evidently that was not the case. "This isn't right… it was supposed to end here…"

Turning, Daniel walked to the door's threshold, pausing to look over his shoulder at where Erik stood stunned a few feet away. "Well… just think of it this way… since you already know everything… nothing else could possibly be worse than what you have already seen. So if you hurry up, this can all end soon… just like you want it to."

His expression hardening, Erik growled low in his throat and stepped forward. "Fine… get out of my way so that we can end this. I don't know what nonsense you have dreamed up… but you can bet I won't care a fig about it. If you couldn't change my mind with Christine and my mother… nothing will change it!"

Stepping aside to allow Erik to pass him, Daniel merely smiled. "We will just have to see about that…" Then after his charge had passed he turned his attention down to his right hand he flexed his fingers slowly, almost painfully. Lines of tension bracketed his mouth as the outline of his hand blinked in and out of focus before returning to normal. "For all our sakes… we will have to see…"


	4. Irish Eyes

**Hey all! This chapter is for all of you Unseen Genius fans. But for those of you who have not read my other story don't worry! This chapter will make perfect sense even if you haven't read it. **

**Oh and sorry this chapter took so long to get out to you. Things got super crazy at work this week! Oh and Terpsichore is on vacation right now so this has not had the chance to be edited. So don't blame her for my crazy grammar! But anyway enjoy!**

Chapter 4: Irish Eyes

Stumbling only slightly as he stepped out of the darkness and into the next chapter of the world he was coming to despise Erik wasted no time in surveying his surroundings, now that the worst was over he hardly wanted to stay a second longer than he needed to. Taking several steps forward to allow Daniel room to walk through behind him Erik crossed his arms over his chest stubbornly and looked around with a scowl.

He stood at the very edge of a small wooded glade. Tall darkly sinister looking trees surrounded the clearing on all sides, their bare limbs twisting threateningly in the wind. Fingers of white mist curled through the trunks of the trees, spreading out over the overgrown pockets of grass littering the ground. Not recognizing the setting, as he had the other two places he visited, Erik's scowl slowly faded into a confused frown. _Where am I? _

Hearing the rustle of Daniel's footsteps behind him Erik turned and fixed the boy with an impatient glare. "Why have you brought me out into the middle of nowhere? This place looks like a God damned nightmare."

Without answering right away Daniel turned and shut the door behind him. As he pulled his hand away from the knob the structure faded and then disappeared. "This isn't the middle of nowhere. But I suppose it is a place sprung from nightmares," he replied, his voice strangely muted, as if he had just awoken from a dream.

Noting this oddly out of character submission Erik tilted his head to the side, fixing Daniel with an intense scrutiny. _Is it my imagination or does the brat actually look pale? Do not be ridiculous… the boy is a spirit… he cannot come to harm… can he?_ A weighted lump of unease settled uncomfortably into the pit of his stomach at the thought. Unbidden he felt a touch of concern pluck at his battered heart.

"What is the matter with you?" Erik demanded, his sharp tone negating the concern behind his words. "Where is the insipid sarcasm and half baked wit you normally bore me with?"

"Sorry… I suppose this last jump just left me a little out of breath," Daniel said, waving off Erik's question with an unconcerned gesture. "Nothing to worry about… I am fine now." Straightening his shoulders as if to prove his words Daniel reclaimed his usually regal posture.

"Who was worrying?" Erik asked hurriedly, feeling foolish for the oddly soft feelings stirring within him.

Looking off to one side, a slow smile spread across Daniel's face. "No one I suppose…" he said lightly as he stepped around Erik to stroll towards the far side of the clearing, where a lichen encrusted rock could just be seen poking above the knee high grass. Turning back towards Erik, Daniel motioned for him to follow. "But let us not waste any time. We should continue on immediately I think."

Picking his way carefully across the small glade Erik came up behind his young charge, still unsure as to where they were. "In a hurry now are you? Finally decided that you want to be rid of me I suppose," he muttered out loud, fully intending to goad Daniel into another fight, at least when they were arguing he was sure of where he stood; unlike the times in between fights when he was left feeling strangely unbalanced.

Apparently not in the mood to rise to the bait Daniel merely shrugged off Erik's comment. "Oh I don't know… though you purposely try to annoy me I think I will miss you when it is time for you to go," he replied in an offhand manner.

Pulling up short of where Daniel stood Erik blinked at the boy's back for several moments unsure of how to respond. _Miss me? How often have I heard those words strung together in my lifetime? _Slowly a soft warmth kindled deep within him and spread tentatively throughout his body, giving him a moment of breathless delight before his razor sharp wits could interfere. _Do not be foolish… they are just words. Where has your discipline gone that something so petty can cause such a reaction? Foolishness…_

Sucking in a deep breath Erik pulled himself together, trying not to allow the smile dancing at the corners of his mouth to spread. Hardening himself against the foreign allure of kindness that Daniel represented Erik crossed his arms defensively over his chest. "Are you going to tell me where we are now?" he asked, purposely changing the subject before he did something truly idiotic like begin to consider Daniel as something more than just a torment.

Seemingly unaware of the impact his words had caused within his stubborn charge Daniel inclined his head towards the rock that could just be seen over the top of the grass. "Why don't you take a look?"

"At that rock? Why?" Erik asked, intentionally shorting his words to compensate for the lingering pockets of warmth beating within him.

Bending at the waist as he spoke he peered down at the rock with an impatient air. After several moments of study he began to notice a series of indentations within the stone's surface, curious now he squatted down and pushed some of the tall grass to the side. It took him seconds to recognize that the dents were actually carved words, and that the rock wasn't a rock at all but a small untended tombstone. Pulling back his hand quickly, as if the touch of the stone had burnt him, Erik turned and glared up at Daniel.

"What is the meaning of this?" he snapped, more than slightly annoyed at the clammy shiver that was racing up his spine.

"Read the inscription, please…"

Muttering under his breath Erik turned back to the stone and squinted at the barely legible script. "I can hardly read a thing. This grave has been poorly tended." Leaning in closer Erik was finally able to make out what the headstone said. "It is in English… it says… Arianna Donovan… Born 1867… Died 1871… Beloved Daughter Taken to God too Soon…" Frowning slightly over the dates upon the stone, Erik felt a leaden feeling in the pit of his stomach. "She was only four years old when she died… Why did you want me to see this? I do not know this child…"

"No you do not know her… but who is to say who you will meet should your life continue on beyond that of the Opera house?"

The hand resting upon Erik's knee slowly bunched into a fist at Daniel's words. "Do not spout such stupidity. There is no life for me beyond the Opera's walls… and now that I have been discovered there is no life for me within it either. I know my fate… I have decided upon it myself. As soon as this journey is over I am resolved to spend an eternity in Hell. This play upon my limited sympathies will not change that," Erik growled, his voice dipping to dangerous levels. "What do I care for some child that I never even met? Everything dies… it is just a matter of how slowly. If she was unlucky enough to go so soon… then… too bad."

A stunned silence fell over the hauntingly vacant clearing, the callousness of Erik's words casting an irreverent pall into the air. Without turning to look up at his companion Erik could practically feel Daniel's stare boring into his back, and he couldn't stop the spikes of shame from spearing through his anger. _I should not have said that…_

"So you do not care that her life will be saved should you choose to live?"

Despite the shame boring holes in his battered heart, and despite the disappointment in Daniel's voice, Erik forced himself to shake his head. _I will not be swayed… there is nothing they can show me that will alter my path. I will not be swayed…_ "Yes, that is what I am saying. No one cared for me at that age and yet I survived. Why should I care for a stranger? Besides… what could I have possibly done for her anyway?"

Daniel let out a weak, shaky breath that had Erik turning to look back at him. With his shoulders sagging into a slump and a light sheen of sweat beading across his brow, Daniel turned his eyes to the ground. There was something deeply troubling about his appearance, as if he were struggling with a terrible grief, which almost made Erik voice his concern for the second time in the last hour.

"You say such terrible things, Erik, but do you ever really consider the meanings behind your words?"

"I never say something I do not mean," Erik replied tersely, unwilling to allow the hidden sorrow in Daniel's tone to soften him.

Closing his eyes as if it took a great effort to keep them open Daniel stood silently for a moment. "That is not what I meant and you know it. You say you do not care if a child should die because you are not there to change her fate… but do you really mean that? Do you truly not care or are you just stubbornly clinging to the darkness that has so long served to hide you from pain?"

"Well I…"

Opening his china blue eyes with a snap Daniel seemed to gather strength, appearing more like himself as anger flashed across his handsome features. "Would you like to see this world then? The future world without you? Because I think if I were you I surely would not want to see the sorrow that would cause," he bit out, his words heavily laden with a fury far beyond that of his usual temper; there now was a darker edge to the emotion gathering behind his taut features, causing his entire body to shake with the force of its passing. Something about this situation was different from the ones before. It had somehow become more personal for the boy.

Not liking where Daniel's words were leading or the volatile light burning behind the boy's eyes, Erik quickly got to his feet. "What sorrow… there is no one to grieve for me should I die… save Christine of course and she will never know of my fate!"

"I do not speak of grief over your passing Erik… I speak of the grief that your absence will generate. Perhaps you should see it before you say again that you do not care…" Daniel continued, the furious color flooding his cheeks finally dispelling all signs of weakness that Erik had perceived earlier.

"It would be a waste of time… I do not…" Choking off in mid sentence Erik felt the darkness descend upon him with a bone crushing force, nearly driving him to the ground with its weight. Raising his hands to his face he struggled to suck in a startled gasp but no air moved over his lips. Panic roared instantly through his blood as he began to feel his body cry out for oxygen. Reaching out into the inky darkness he searched for Daniel, for the only familiar thing he knew of in this never ending void, but his hands came up empty.

When the pressure finally lifted from his body Erik sucked in a deep, shuddering breath. Lying perfectly still upon the ground, as he slowly tried to regain his wits, he heard the world slip back into place around him. Never before had the force of the transition been so violent, and the shock of it was still clouding his brain as he tenderly pushed himself up into a sitting position.

Blinking dumbly at his surroundings he saw that he sat in a cozily appointed library of an unfamiliar house. He noticed that the rug underneath him was of a distinctly Persian design but that the furniture displayed the simple, yet elegant, lines of British construction. An odd array of knick knacks, ranging from a multi armed statuette of a Hindu God to what appeared to be a shrunken head, stood neatly arranged upon the shelves along one wall while the rest of the room was jammed full of books of all shapes and sizes. Groaning aloud Erik raised a hand to scrub down his face, hoping to dispel the last sensations of claustrophobia clinging to him from his short journey to this odd place.

The soft sound of someone tapping their fingers against hard wood brought his attention around to where Daniel sat slumped inelegantly in a leather wing backed chair. With one hand pressing firmly against the bridge of his nose the boy shifted and opened his eyes, instantly locking gazes with Erik from across the room. The heat of righteous fury still glittered hotly within his sky blue eyes but Erik noticed that the hints of the deep, secret grief still flickered there as well.

"I am sorry," Daniel murmured reluctantly after a moment of tense silence. "That must not have been an easy crossing. I lost my control in a moment of vindictiveness. I should have cushioned your mind more than I did… Please forgive me."

Staring at the boy with just a little bit of surprise Erik moved to climb to his feet. "You mean you did that on purpose?" he asked slowly, realizing quite suddenly that all this time Daniel must have been sheltering him from the harsher aspects of their supernatural traveling.

"Yes, because I was angry with you. It was stupid of me…" Daniel replied truthfully, the regret evident in his every word despite the anger still printed across his face.

Though Erik knew he should be annoyed at this he found that he wasn't. On the contrary, he felt a surprised smile threaten to break out across his face. _He was protecting me all this time? Even though I have constantly been goading his temper… What sort of person does that for another whom they do not even like? _The soft, unfamiliar glow he had been experiencing earlier once again shifted within him. Warming the vacant wasteland of his heart with a grateful tenderness he had never experienced before. But unlike before the feelings were not followed by shard of panic or dismissal, they held fast this time, refusing to be pushed aside and ignored. _My God… Am I beginning to actually not hate this boy? Gah! I must be going soft in the head! _

"So I suppose that means you are destined to be human after all. Had I been in charge of this little journey I would have done something like that much sooner," he admitted slowly, still trying to come to terms with the friendlier feelings taking root inside of him.

Sitting up a little straighter Daniel eyed Erik warily. "You are not furious with me? I do not mind. If it makes you feel better go ahead and yell."

Crossing his arms over his chest Erik fixed a disapproving frown onto his face. "You seem to think that all I ever do is yell. I can have moments of calm as well just like everyone else."

"Yeah right…" Daniel muttered under his breath.

"Well putting that aside… where are we now?"

Continuing to stare at Erik with a vague sort of disbelief Daniel remained seated. "No where that you know… yet anyway."

"Then why are we here?"

"To test the limits of your declarations," Daniel stated simply. "You have said how little you care for your own life… so much so that you wouldn't choose to live to help the woman you love or even to save the life of another. So I have brought you here to test that… to test if you have it in you to care for the lives of others."

Feeling a little bit of the tentative friendliness begin to fade Erik narrowed his eyes. "What sort of test?"

Shrugging, as if in ignorance; Daniel idly turned and plucked a book from the shelves behind him. "I suppose you will just have to see," he said, as he nonchalantly flipped through the book's pages.

Shooting Daniel a deadly glare Erik felt a flash of unease shiver through him. Though the boy was feigning calm disinterest it was evident to Erik that Daniel still nursed a simmering pot of resentment towards him. He didn't want to consider what the resentful spirit could have in store for him. _Lord, I am going to have to watch my damned tongue from now on. Saying what I said to him wasn't worth the trouble it caused. I know I was a bit callous speaking of that child as I did… but still… he needn't have taken it so close to heart the stupid boy!_

Opening his mouth to question his guide further Erik shut it again when the library door was thrown open with a bang. Starting slightly he turned just in time to see a little girl race passed him, her laughter ringing about the room as she scurried behind a love seat in the far corner. Confounded as to what could be going on Erik looked to Daniel for answers but the boy still had his nose in his book and was ignoring him. Left to find answers for himself Erik walked over to the loveseat and bent down to look underneath it, where the child had now wedged herself. With her dark hair spread out about her small body in unruly curls the child had a decidedly improper air about her; but her rosy, cherub cheeks and her wide smiling eyes dispelled this first impression. She looked as innocent as a lamb.

Sighing because this inspection had offered up no new understanding of his situation Erik made a move to straighten, but froze when he noticed something extremely odd. The child was staring right at him with eyes the color of tarnished silver. He had never seen eyes like that before and right now they were focused intently upon his face. Transfixed where he knelt by the loveseat Erik could only watch in shock as the child raised a finger to her lips, motioning him to be quiet with a mischievous smile, her gaze never once leaving his.

Jerking backward and out of the girl's line of sight Erik turned to Daniel, one hand automatically coming up to cover the right side of his face as a wave of instinctual panic clawed up the back of his throat. "What is the meaning of this? She looked right at me! I thought you said no one could see me here save you! What am I going to do… I need something… I mean I cannot go around without… not if they can see me and…"

He was babbling now and he knew it, but he couldn't seem to stop himself in his panic. All this time he had gone without the comforts of his mask for the simple reason that no one could see his face anyway, but now that had changed. "She looked right at me!" he insisted loudly again his heart racing to a thousand beats a minute within his chest. _And she smiled while she was doing it too… _a secret part of his mind whispered seductively in his ears, giving him a moment's pause in his growing hysteria.

Tilting his book down slightly Daniel seemed completely unconcerned by his charge's panicked state. "Are you sure she looked at you and not at something behind you?" he asked calmly.

"No, no! I am not stupid I can tell when someone is looking at me. She put her fingers to her lips to ask me to be quiet!"

"Really?" Daniel asked, finally with some interest, as he sat up straighter in his chair. "I didn't expect that. Interesting…"

"Stop fooling around boy! I cannot simply walk around as I am now! Not if people can see… if they can see…"

"Your face you mean?" Tapping the spine of his book thoughtfully against his chin Daniel's gaze flickered back and forth between Erik and the muffled sounds of movement coming from underneath the small couch. "Well I suppose if it makes you more comfortable you can have your mask back. I was wondering how long it would take you to request it. A lot longer than I originally thought that is for sure."

"Do you mean to tell me I could have had it back at any time?"

"Yes, all you had to do was to ask… but you never did," Daniel said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"I didn't think it would be that easy… I didn't think you would give it back… I hate asking for things that I will never receive so I kept quiet all this time…" When Daniel looked slightly annoyed at this apparent lack of trust Erik felt a little guilty for feeling as he did. Daniel had done nothing but treat him with his own versions of respect and kindness since they had met, annoying as those versions were, and yet, it had never occurred to Erik to ask the boy for anything.

"I know such things are hard for you…" Daniel said without his usual sarcasm. "Asking something of another human being means you give them the power to refuse you. If I had grown up in your place I suppose I wouldn't want to give anyone that power either," he said, showing an unusual level of insight despite his young appearance. "But of course you can have your mask back Erik. I would never have refused such a request."

Dropping his hands to his sides Erik stared across the room at his companion, wondering at the boy's strange attitude. Based upon his passed experiences Erik expected a far different set of behaviors than those which he was seeing. Perhaps it was because Daniel had never actually lived a life yet, but Erik was finding out more and more how different the boy was from other people. Somehow this odd young man seemed more human than anyone else Erik had ever met, and the boy hadn't even technically taken his first breath. It was mind boggling. _I had come to believe that there was no one like this boy in existence. Kindness is extinct in the world… I had thought… but perhaps I was wrong. Perhaps it really does exist and I just never had the fortune to encounter it before now. Perhaps I was wrong… _

Looking to the side Erik caught sight of his mask sitting upon a nearby table. _Ask and you shall receive? It cannot be so simple…_ Walking over to the table he cast a quick glance Daniel's way before picking up the familiar weight of formed leather. _I know I should feel relieved to have it back… I have been wearing a mask all my life after all… but somehow this boy makes me feel strange to be putting it back on. Suddenly I feel as if putting it on isn't a release… but an entrapment now. Strange. _Shaking his head Erik slowly raised the mask to his face.

Just as he had settled the cool leather against his skin another figure came rushing through the already open library door. A young woman in her mid twenties stepped into the room and planted her fists onto her hips in what was unmistakably a battle stance as she glanced about the library with narrowed gray eyes. Struck momentarily by the commanding nature of her presence Erik could do nothing but stare at the new arrival. She had classically proportioned features, with high cheek bones, a soft jaw line, and pert heart shaped lips. But it was not her face that kept Erik's eyes glued to the young woman, but her hair. White as snow and piled high atop her head in a messy bun the unusual color gave her a delicate, almost fragile appearance that was directly at odds with the stern look upon her young face.

Falling back several steps Erik feared that at any moment the woman would turn and look at him as the child had done moments before. The thought of her eyes upon him was somehow worse than when the little girl had glanced his way. Something deep within him, something visceral and instinctual, cried out against such a humiliation. It was desperately important that she not see him.

Without giving thought to what he was doing Erik turned away and was on the verge of racing out the door when Daniel's voice stopped him. "Calm down Erik. You forget where you are. They cannot really see you. Do not panic."

Wincing at how loudly the boy's voice rang out into the quiet room Erik turned a furious glare his way. "Be quiet. If that child could see me then that means anyone can!"

Smiling for the first time since they had arrived at this new location Daniel looked over at where the white haired woman was systematically searching about the room. "My, my this certainly has gotten you all worked up hasn't it? You seem to have a terrible weakness when it comes to pretty ladies, eh?"

After checking to make sure that the young woman hadn't heard any part of their conversation, and hadn't paid them any attention at all, Erik stalked over to where Daniel still sat in his chair. "If you were a real man I would knock your teeth out for saying that!"

"But you really needn't worry," Daniel continued, completely changing the subject as he ignored Erik's threats. "The child is… how should I say this… special. As is her mother. The women of this family are… hmm… more attune with their surroundings. But that doesn't mean you are in any danger of being spotted. If anything you might occasionally appear as a shadow to them."

Feeling a little calmer because of the explanation Erik turned his attention to where the young woman was checking behind the heavy curtains. "More attuned to their surroundings… what in the world does that mean? Don't tell me they are some sort of witches… selling their souls to Satin or some sort of nonsense," Erik muttered, thinking secretly that the pair couldn't look less like sorceresses if they tried.

"Because I know you were trying to be funny I will pretend you didn't say what you just did," Daniel said with a tense scowl, a shadow quickly casting over the relative lightness of his mood, returning his young face to stark, serious lines. "And as to what I meant by being more attuned… that is none of your bloody business."

Allowing a pleased grin to spread across his face Erik opened his mouth to tease the boy further but was interrupted by a triumphant shout from the other side of the room. The young woman had finally found the little girl under the couch and was now industriously dragging the child out into the open.

"Thought you could hide forever did you?" The young woman asked loudly in English, her words ringing lyrically with an Irish accent. "Well it is time for you to be meeting your maker, I think!" she continued rather dramatically as the child shrieked in protest. "Get ready for your punishment! Mawhahaha!" Cackling evilly the young woman squatted down next to the squirming girl and set about tickling the breath out of the child.

Goggling at the spectacle playing out mere feet away from him Erik shook his head in utter bewilderment. Pointing a finger at the riotous duo he turned to Daniel. "What are they doing? I thought she said something about punishment."

Openly smiling at the tickling match Daniel leaned forward in his chair, avidly watching the silly scene. "She didn't mean a real punishment of course," he said off handedly. "I don't think Brielle has it in her to ever be truly stern with Aria. Though she does like to make a show of being tough doesn't she. It is rather fun to watch…" The squeals and laughter died down as the white haired woman sat back, releasing her daughter from her grip. Moving to stand Brielle bent forward and placed a gentle kiss atop the child's head.

Wanting to be annoyed at this obvious waste of time but finding himself inexplicably drawn to the open displays of affection between the two strangers Erik shifted from foot to foot uncomfortably. Though he knew he wasn't truly a part of this world he still felt as if it were wrong of him to be there, to peer in on this family without their knowledge. There was so much light and laughter here when he was so used to the dark, and secretly he feared that somehow he would taint the goodness he felt emanating from practically every crack of this small room. It was almost like the feeling one gets after treading muddy boots across a clean floor. Finally forcing himself to avert his eyes from the two women Erik took several steps backward.

"Obviously you are having some fun at my expense by bringing me here. I understand you were angry but really you needn't torture me with scenes of family life."

"Is that what you think I am doing?" Daniel asked slowly, his oddly boyish grin fading slightly as he brought his eyes up to where Erik stood next to him.

"I accept that you wished to punish me for the callous things I said and with that in consideration I do…" Clearing his throat slightly to buck up his courage Erik pursed his lips in irritation and stared at the floor. "I do apologize."

Gaping up at Erik for several moments in silence Daniel went completely still upon his chair; then closing his eyes as if in shock the boy raised a hand to press dramatically against his chest. "By the Saints I think that may be the first sincere apology to have ever passed through your lips."

Bristling at the flippant response Erik clenched his fists at his sides. He had expected the idiot spirit to at least be grateful he had made an attempt to set things right, but the boy wasn't acting as he should. "Don't goad me boy. I was trying to assuage your foolish temper."

Finally getting to his feet Daniel clasped his hands together and feigned an expression of awed disbelief, the sarcasm sharpening his eyes to razor edges. "We are gathered here on this historic occasion to bear witness to…"

"Gah, enough! I understand… I should have apologized sooner. Fine! But I cannot stand all these noisy dramatics!"

Lowering his hands Daniel nodded, the temper that he had been nursing since the moment they got there seemingly mollified at last. "All kidding aside I do appreciate the effort. But I didn't bring you here to torment you."

"There can be no other reason…"

"As I said before… you were brought here as a test."

Before Erik could open his mouth to argue further, a tall red headed man in his early thirties strolled into the room. Springing out of her mother's grasp Aria raced across the room to the newcomer, throwing her small arms about his legs. "Uncle C-C-Conner! Save m-me! M-Momma says I have to t-take a bath because we are expecting c-company!"

Bending down to sweep the child up into his arms with practiced ease, the red head grinned conspiratorially at Aria. "Did she now? Well don't you be worrying about that. I say no one should ever have a bath again."

Looking mildly perturbed by the seeds of revolt she heard in those words Brielle crossed her arms over her chest. "Don't be filling her head with such nonsense Conner. I have been looking for her for half an hour to get her into a bath tub! Who would have thought that that one word could magically make children disappear?"

Good naturedly ignoring his sister's annoyance Conner merely smiled rakishly across the room at her. "Perhaps if we all smell bad enough it will keep _unwanted_ guests away."

"H-Hurray!" the child shouted in his arms.

Rolling her eyes skyward Brielle let out a long suffering sigh. "Conner hand her over or so help me I will never let you come over for dinner again!"

His smile falling at that the red head gave a nervous chuckle. "Sorry, love… but a man has to eat," he said to the child in his arms as he set her back on her feet.

"Good to see you do have some sense in that wool gathering head of yours," Brielle stated, the sharpness of her words softened by the smile on her face. "Come along Aria… we will have to be quick. Our guest is due any…"

At the sound of a knock on the door the Irishwoman cut off in mid sentence, her face quickly draining of all the laughter and spirit she had displayed earlier. A shadow shifted behind her eyes, darkening her gaze to the color of wet slate. Though she had hid it well up to that point it was painfully apparent that underneath it all she was carrying a terrible sorrow upon her shoulders. Somehow without her smiles and blusters she looked smaller than she had before. "Blast… he is here already!"

Turning on his heel Conner strode quickly out of the library and down the hall calling lightly over his shoulder. "I'll get it! Someone should show our guest a proper welcome!"

Not looking too pleased by this statement Brielle ran out of the room after her brother, Aria following quickly on her mother's heels. Left alone in the room now, Erik could only scratch his head in confusion. "I still fail to see what I am doing here. These people are obviously crazy. Not taking a bath to ward of guests… what an idiotic statement."

"Wait until you meet the guest. Perhaps you will understand then," Daniel murmured darkly.

"Alright. If you insist on continuing this madness," Erik sighed as he strode out the door. He arrived in the front hall just in time to see Conner slam the door casually in someone's face then turn to his sister and ask about breakfast.

"Conner!" Brielle exclaimed, horrified at her brother's actions. "What has gotten into you! You can't simply close the door in a man's face!"

A sliver of meanness cut into his normally easy smile. "If there were a man on the porch I would agree with you. Don't let that foppish bastard into the house Bri! You know what I think of the English and him in particular. At least when you married English, John didn't turn out to be an ass."

"Sweet Mary! This is his house, Conner! And I will not take part in your rudeness! I can't simply turn him away!" Pushing the redhead out of the way with an oath Brielle opened the front door with a harried smile. "Andrew… good morning. So sorry about that."

Peering over the shoulders of the two Irish siblings Erik could just make out the silhouette of a fashionably dressed gentleman waiting out on the porch. Taking an instant dislike to the visitor, because it was obvious from his dress and manner that he was of the nobility, Erik found himself scowling right along with Conner.

Staying where he was outside Andrew fastidiously picked at a speck of lint upon his jacket, then raising his gaze he smiled at Brielle, his black eyes glittering in the early spring sunlight. "Was it my imagination or has your brother returned form one of his long escapades?"

"Yes… he is back."

Nodding as he turned beetle black eyes to the redhead standing just inside the doorway Andrew gave Conner a once over and then dismissed him. "This visit shouldn't take long. Perhaps you would like to step outside… where there won't be any distractions. I know it has been a cold spring so far but today is rather pleasant. And I wouldn't mind taking a short walk with my lovely sister-in-law."

"Hey if you don't want me around that is fine by me," Conner snapped, before turning to stalk off down the hallway. "Bri, tell me when _Lord_ Donovan vacates the property."

Obviously distressed by the tension between the two men Brielle quickly grabbed a light wrap from a peg on the wall, and ushering Aria out ahead of her, stepped out onto the porch. "Aria, love, go and play while your Uncle Andrew and I talk about grown up things."

Nodding silently the child skirted around her Uncle, her head bowed in a strangely subdued manner for such a young girl. Moving outside Brielle closed the front door behind her shutting off Erik and Daniel's view. "Who is that man?" Erik asked absently as he strode to the door and peered out a small window. "He has eyes as cold as a snake's."

"That is Andrew Donovan. Brielle was married to his brother, John, until he was shot and killed around four years ago. Andrew graciously allows her to live upon one of his many properties and often comes to see to her welfare. They all usually dread those visits and…"

Frowning slightly Erik turned to look over his shoulder at Daniel. "Wait a moment did you just say Donovan?"

"Yes…"

Erik's stomach dropped at the news. "That was the name on the tombstone you showed me…" he murmured slowly, his face going blank with horror as realization finally dawned on him. "It said Arianna Donovan… four years old… you cannot mean to tell me that Arianna is that little girl out there right now!"

"No one calls her Arianna because it sounds so serious. They call her Aria for short."

Banging the palm of his hand against the window pane Erik cursed out loud; the leaden feeling in the pit of his stomach beginning to turn sickeningly within him. He didn't know this family, had only spent less than an hour in their company, and yet now that he had a face to go with the name on the stone he felt a surge of panic tickling the back of his mind. It was incomprehensible to equate the cold, moss covered, tombstone with the vivacious child he had been watching.

Staring out the window as Aria skipped around the corner of the house Erik ground his teeth together. "Why did you really bring me here? What am I supposed to do?"

"Supposed to do? You cannot do anything. Here you don't exist… remember?" Moving passed Erik Daniel opened the front door and walked out. Not wanting to be left alone with the panic clawing up the back of his throat Erik quickly followed.

Outside the spring air blew gently across a large open yard, but it still held enough of winter's bite to prompt the need for a jacket. Brielle and Andrew were having a heated conversation near a small barn at the back of the house. As Erik drew closer he managed to discover that they were arguing about if Aria should be sent away to a special school to help fix her speech abnormalities. Andrew was in favor of the idea. Brielle was not. The pair were so involved with what they were saying that they didn't notice when Aria stepped out onto the ice of a small pond just next to the barn.

Noticing this about the same time that Erik did Brielle stopped in mid conversation, her cheeks a bright pink from her barely controlled temper. Slowly the color drained from her face as she took a step toward the pond. "The ice… Aria get off the ice…" she breathed, her voice choking in her throat and coming out far too soft to be heard. Painfully gathering a great gulp of air, she screamed those words. "Aria, get off the ice now!"

The utter silence following her panicked words was deafening. A loud popping sound exploded across the barnyard, echoing through the still spring air like a thunderclap. Erik watched Brielle open her mouth to scream again, but an ominous groaning filled up the quiet before she could.

Time shivered to a halt in those next few moments. Erik could see the smile on Aria's face slowly drop away as the child looked toward her feet, at the cracks forming there. Brielle raised her hand slowly, apparently with great difficultly, reaching out as if to grab the child from the ice and pull her to dry ground. All too soon, time jerked back into motion. Erik started when an ear-splitting crack boomed across the yard - shutting his eyes for a moment against the sound, he turned his head to the side. A garbled childish scream pierced the air for barely a second before cutting off too soon.

Jerking his eyes open Erik scanned the now empty pond before him, his gaze quickly drawn to the gaping black hole which marked where Aria had stood moments ago. Rooted where he stood he watched Brielle shriek in horror and lurch forward. The white haired woman raced to the pond's edge, clamoring down the embankment just as Aria's small form reappeared above the water's surface. Skidding across the ice Brielle tried to navigate her way to where her daughter struggled to cling to the ice's edge but when one of her feet fell on a thin section she too plunged into the icy dark water.

Having remained immobile up to this point, Andrew finally sprung into motion. Hardly even glancing in Aria's direction the young lord managed to grab hold of one of Brielle's arms without stepping foot onto the ice himself. She fought him as he dragged her onto the shore and held her there.

Pacing back and forth now Erik clenched his hand so tightly that his nails stamped livid red marks into his palms. "Why doesn't that man do something?" he muttered angrily to himself as he glared over at Andrew.

"He wouldn't put his life at risk for anyone else…"

Aria, her face ashen under a mop of wet hair, raised one arm from her grip upon the edge and waved it wildly toward where her mother and Andrew were on shore, kicking her feet frantically trying to boost her tiny body further out of the water. She sputtered and choked loudly as she began to slump lower, her small body shivering too violently for her to maintain a strong grip. She opened her mouth as if to call out but no sound passed through her blue lips.

Slowly her eyes skittered over to focus on where Erik stalked the shoreline, pinning him with a silent plea before slowly slipping below the water's dark surface. Sucking in a breath Erik took a step forward, his body practically burning with the need to run out and pull the little girl back up to the surface. He waited, hoping that she would reappear, but she never did. The ripples from her struggles grew smaller, smoothing out until no sign of her remained.

Distantly Erik heard Brielle's voice ring out in an almost inhuman scream of grief. Her sputtering sobs echoing the painful starts and stops of his own heartbeat. _I do not know them… I do not know them… so why do I feel as if I do? As if my heart is being pulled out of my chest? _Feeling lightheaded Erik slowly sank to the ground, his eyes never leaving the dark hole in the middle of the icy pond.

Looking up at Daniel with a lost look in his sky blue eyes Erik felt his helplessness closing in around him. "I do not understand… this is wrong… it seems so wrong…"

"Yes, it is," Daniel agreed. "This isn't what was planned. But without you here this is what was sure to happen."

"Me?" Erik barked. "What could I have done! I am not a hero! I am not even a good person! I am like that man… I think about myself first!"

"You are wrong. Even now knowing you can do nothing you wanted to run out there. I could see it in your eyes," Daniel said as the landscape around them faded back to the lonely graveyard where they had started. "You are not as evil as you seem to think. Deep down your heart is good. And your life is not a waste. Just by living you could have stopped this. You could have helped Christine."

"I know… I know!" Erik moaned as he shook his head from side to side.

Squatting down next to his charge Daniel sighed heavily. "And yet you still sound unconvinced. What more proof do you need that your life has not been an endless series of heartaches for nothing? There has been a plan for you as there is for all others. You were not forgotten, Erik. And you have the chance to be happy… to get married and have children."

"Now I know you are lying. No woman would ever stoop to wedding me…" Erik bit out weakly as he stared at the top of the small tombstone over the swaying grass. "But what I do not understand is how I could be connected to these people… they are foreigners… how would I ever even meet them?"

"That is not for me to say," Daniel murmured. "But a person's life is like a ripple upon still water, spreading out in continuous rings over time. As the rings meet those from another person's life they alter their course because of that contact. In life we are led to those who can help us most to grow… if we let them. In this world those you were supposed to meet never changed, their paths never altering."

"My whole life I was told that I was not worth… anything really. And I never wanted to believe it… but when you are told something so many times you secretly begin to think it is true."

Reaching out Daniel gently patted Erik on the shoulder. "It isn't true. You deserve to be happy as much as anyone else… more so maybe. And if you allow it to happen it will. You can love and be loved… you can be respected as an artist and overcome the fear and sorrow that has followed you all your life. You can even become a father… and your children can go on to change the world in their own ways as well… In fact I have been waiting to tell you that I…"

"Children? I… don't know… I… I don't believe you," Erik muttered, interrupting what Daniel had been about to say.

Bowing his head slightly Daniel made a soft, almost pained, sound. "Then we must continue on."


	5. Finding Friendship

**Gah! I am mortified at how bad my updates have been these last couple weeks. Bad, authoress, bad!! Once again work and school have been keeping me on my toes but I swear that when I did have time I worked on the chapter (well at least most of the time anyway.) Oh and if I didn't reply to your review for the last chapter it isn't because I don't care or anything. The review thingy was messed up for awhile there. Apparently I wasn't getting notification of all of the reviews that came in. Sorry!!**

**A huge thanks to Terpsichore once again. She is the best beta ever!! And strange as it may sound we have been working together for almost a year now. Crazy huh? But anyway enjoy the chapter.**

Chapter 5: Finding Friendship

Reaching out, Daniel gently patted Erik on the shoulder, his touch feeling like nothing more than a soft summer breeze. "You deserve to be happy as much as anyone else… more so, maybe. And if you allow it to happen it will. You can love and be loved… you can be respected as an artist and overcome the fear and sorrow that has followed you all your life. You can even become a father… and your children can go on to change the world in their own ways as well… In fact I have been waiting to tell you that I…"

"Children? I… don't know… I… I don't believe you," Erik muttered, interrupting what Daniel had been about to say, his heart still bleeding from the horror he had just been a witness to. Daniel's words, though they seemed to repeat the secret wishes he had long held within him, could not penetrate the darkness clouding his mind.

Bowing his head slightly, Daniel made a soft, almost pained, sound. "Then we must continue on," he murmured despairingly as he slowly climbed to his feet.

Feeling the withdrawal of the boy's comforting presence like a blow to the mind, Erik looked up at where Daniel now stood above him. He hadn't realized until just that moment how much he had come to rely on his young guide to draw him out of his own torturous thoughts. "No, Daniel…" he began raggedly, hating the pleading note he heard in his own words. "Even I do not have the fortitude to continue after such a spectacle. I… I cannot…"

Shrugging weakly, Daniel turned his face toward where Aria's sad little stone poked above the tall grass, an unnamed darkness draining the color from his youthful features. "Be careful, Erik… you sound almost as if you care about her fate," he snapped, the unkindness lessened slightly by the fatigue weighing upon his tone. "Why… one would think there is a true human heart beating within you after all."

Frowning at the boy's testiness, Erik was distracted for the moment from the ache that was beating through his blood and stealing the very breath from his lungs. Somehow this unexpected attack upon his character struck him as no other had in the past. He didn't like that Daniel should say such things, much less think them true. Sometime during their acquaintance a strange and wondrous thing had occurred: he had come to care about what the boy thought. It stung that Daniel thought so poorly of him.

Raising an unsteady hand up to trace along the outer edge of his mask in a nervous gesture, Erik fought the uncomfortable emotions diligently thawing his wintry heart. "Shut your mouth!" he barked defensively.

Turning his head toward his charge in an oddly stiff manner Daniel's expression turned wooden. "What is the matter? I am only repeating the sentiments you have professed yourself," he stated, the anger growing more and more evident in his eyes. "Did you not say that you do not care about anyone? Isn't that what you have been saying all along?"

Glaring at Daniel, Erik drew his shoulders up in a defensive gesture. He waited for the anger to surface, as it always did when he was confronted with things he didn't want to hear, but his temper remained strangely quiet, leaving him to contend with his confusion alone. _What can I say to that? I cannot say it isn't true… because it is. It is true… The only problem is that now I don't want it to be. For the first time… I do not want it to be._

Fisting his hands at his sides, Daniel practically vibrated with the pent-up frustration boiling through him. He tore his eyes away from Erik and set about boring holes into the ground under his feet. "And I am getting tired of it really!" he continued after a few moments of silence. "I have tried to understand you… to understand that you are the way you are for good reason… for reasons I cannot fault you for. But I cannot stand it anymore!"

"Daniel…" Surprised by this outburst Erik could only stare as the boy ranted away, feeling dark fingers of shame beginning to trace up the his lower spine.

"You long for tolerance and kindness but you refuse to give it to others! You are being given a second chance here… to see what no one else is able to… to see the worth of your own life… but you refuse to take advantage of it." Taking a deep breath, he paused a moment, gathering his strength to continue on.

"How can you look upon Christine's fate in this world without being moved to change? How can you see a mere child die knowing that you are meant to save her and still curse your own pitiful life? There is beauty and potential all around you, but you don't want to see it." Throwing his hands up violently into the air, Daniel pinned Erik with a heated glare. "I cannot understand that!!"

"Daniel…" Erik repeated a little louder this time to try and be heard over his guide's ranting. Feeling like a petulant child in the face of such lofty criticism, he could only wince when Daniel let out a blistering curse. "Daniel… stop this."

Ignoring Erik for the second time, Daniel took several steps away, his usually graceful gait reduced to a strained shuffle. "You are forcing me to continue this when it could have been over. If you would only give a little… if you would only see what you are being shown instead of denying everything and… and…" Cutting off in mid-sentence, Daniel raised a hand up to his face, wiping at the clammy sweat breaking out across his creased brow. "All you would have to do is accept that your life was not a waste… that you were meant for good things… and this could have been over… and I… I wouldn't have to… to… endure the thought that my f-fathe… that…my… doesn't care about…."

Sucking in a shuddered breath, Daniel staggered to the side as his legs went out from under him. Fighting to remain on his feet, the young man shot out a hand and grabbed hold of a nearby tree. Leaning against the gnarled trunk, his form dissolved for a split second, flickering in and out of focus like a reflection upon a pond surface. Watching all of this with a growing sense of alarm, Erik clambered to his feet, hurrying to Daniel's slumped body in a matter of moments.

Hovering at Daniel's side, Erik watched as the boy's faded image slowly returned to normal. Wanting to take the boy's arm, but knowing he could not, Erik could only watch helplessly as Daniel struggled to catch his breath. "What is the matter? Are you all right?!" he demanded worriedly.

Closing his eyes tiredly, Daniel slowly nodded his head. "It will pass in a moment, I am sure. It usually lasts only a few moments," he rasped.

Stiffening at this, Erik felt his heart skip a beat inside his chest. "You mean to say this has happened before? That it has _been_ happening?!" he nearly bellowed before tempering his voice to calmer levels.

"Yes."

Raising both hands up to tear at his hair in frustration over the boy's answer, Erik couldn't stop the uncharacteristic series of curses from spewing from his lips. "Why didn't you say anything, you stupid boy?!" he shouted, the worry in his tone sharpening every word to a fine point. "What am I to think when you just go about collapsing for no reason?! What is wrong with you?!"

Turning his head minutely to look over at his nearly hysterical charge, Daniel searched Erik's features for a few silent moments. Slowly his strained expression softened, the anger drifting gently away. "Sorry you had to see this," he said unsteadily before clearing his throat and continuing. "I did not anticipate that it would progress this far. I was sure this would all be over much sooner… but because you are still here…" Shrugging, the young man slowly lowered himself to the ground, leaning back against the rough tree trunk.

Following Daniel to the ground, Erik anxiously squatted by his side, his hands automatically going out to steady the weakened young man before he thought better of it and dropped them to his knees. _He mentioned earlier that the jumps between worlds were tiring him. But is that really what is wrong? _"If it taxes you so, why did they send you to do this? You are a damned spirit… nothing should bother you." Searching the boy's face, Erik felt sharp spikes of panic tearing through his mind when he realized that he didn't have the slightest idea how to help his young guide. _If he were a real person I could do something. I know enough about medicine that I could at least DO something. But this… how does one treat a spirit?_ "Tell me what to do!"

Slowly a wan smile tugged at the corners of Daniel's mouth. "Normally nothing would affect someone like me… but in this case there are special circumstances."

"Circumstances? What circumstances?!"

"You have seen how your absence has affected the world already, Erik. Is it too much to think that perhaps you absence would affect those who have not been born yet?" Daniel asked quietly, his clear eyes fixed steadily upon Erik's face.

Stunned into complete stillness, Erik could only gape at Daniel for several tense moments as the implications set in. "No… that cannot be it," he murmured desperately. "I cannot be the cause of this. That is ridiculous. Perhaps you were just feeling faint… Perhaps…"

Shaking his head slowly from side to side, Daniel raised a hand to interrupt. "Feeling faint? Does that normally go hand-in-hand with blinking in and out of focus like a bloody fairy light?" he asked, his old sarcasm once again filtering into his tone.

Completely missing where the boy could find humor in this situation, Erik clenched his fists tight upon his knees. "Do not say stupid things," he growled. "You must be in terrible pain. I can tell."

"Can you?" Daniel asked faintly, his pale lips barely moving with his words.

"Yes, because you are trying to hide it. It is the same thing I do."

Surprise had Daniel's eyes widening as something secret and vulnerable moved behind his expression. "Really?" he sighed with what sounded like hope. A ghost of a smile graced his features and some color returned to his cheeks. "That is nice to know."

Wondering at Daniel's apparent moment of whimsy, Erik continued to study the boy's face. "Is this really because of what you are doing for me?"

"Yes, but not in the way you are thinking."

"Then what?"

"I cannot tell you. If you knew I think your mind would explode," Daniel teased, his tone and manner growing stronger by the minute. "But seriously… I am not allowed to say right now why this is happening. It would falsely change your actions. And that would make everything I have shown you pointless." Seemingly cheerful now, if still a little shaky, Daniel combed his mussed hair with his fingertips. "I am more determined than ever to make this all worthwhile."

Relieved that the boy was becoming more himself, Erik forced his tensed limbs to relax. _How long has this sort of thing being going on without my noticing it? How long has he been suffering without saying a word? Damn that stupid boy… why should I worry? Nothing can happen to him._ _He is getting better… No reason to panic… It isn't like he could die anyway… _But despite these rationalizations he couldn't shake off the chilly grip of fear clutching at his throat nor stop the wild racing of his heart beat. Raising a hand to scrub across the left side of his face, Erik frowned as he considered what had just happened. _He should have told me. At least then I could have… I could have… just told him what he wanted to hear and left by now… I could have… _Lowering his gaze to the ground, Erik sucked in a startled breath as he realized something. _That is what he was talking about… that is why he wasn't going to tell me… because he knew I would try to help him… that I would go to the trouble…_

_My God… When did this happen? It has crept up upon me without my notice… I think… I think I actually care about this stupid brat! _Dropping his hand back to his side limply, Erik marveled at this discovery. He had had few opportunities in his lifetime to acquire friendship from his fellow man, being as isolated as he had been forced to be, and now that one had been thrust upon him he hardly knew what to make of it. Mired within his own thoughts as he was, Erik hardly even noticed when Daniel got to his feet.

"Are you going to be sitting there all day, old man? We have things we need to do," Daniel stated airily, his youthful features once again the picture of perfect health.

Unruffled by the insult, Erik merely stared up at his guide for several moments in silence. _What can a person like me do with a friend? When this is all over I will never see this boy again… I shouldn't let myself feel this way but… but… strange as it is there is a part of me that doesn't want to let it go. _"Shouldn't you sit and rest a while longer?"

"You sound like an old woman when you say things like that," Daniel said as he wrinkled his nose at Erik. "Can't you see I am trying to pick a fight?"

Shrugging, Erik climbed to his feet, keeping a worried eye on his companion the whole time. "For once I just do not feel like fighting with you."

"Merciful heavens!" Daniel exclaimed as he clutched at his chest dramatically. "I never thought to hear such words from you until hell itself froze over!"

"Stop that…" Erik muttered with a sober frown. "Can you not see how worried you just made me? I thought I was going to have a heart attack."

Closing his mouth on whatever flippant comment he had been about to say, Daniel merely smiled, the blue of his eyes lightening to the exact color of a bright summer's day. "You really are worried, aren't you? It is nice to know. I am glad."

"At least someone is happy about it!" Erik snapped under his breath. Looking at his young guide's happy expression, Erik was once again hit with a strange sense of déjà vu. There was something oddly familiar about Daniel's face, especially in the color of his eyes. It was almost like he had seen him somewhere before, and for a moment Erik felt as if the answer as to why he should feel this way was dancing right in front of him, but the moment passed and he was left feeling as if he were missing something vitally important.

"But we have truly wasted enough time. There is more for you to see."

Standing stubbornly where he was, Erik shook his head. "I refuse to watch a repeat of what you last showed me."

"It bothered you that much, huh?"

"Of course it did! Who wouldn't be bothered by watching a little girl drown to death?!"

"I can think of a few," Daniel said lightly as he strolled over to a particularly tall bundle of grass near Aria's headstone. "But I won't be showing you another child dying, if that is what you are worried about." Nudging some of the grass aside, he revealed the top of another tombstone.

Feeling his stomach drop within his belly, Erik stared at the new stone. "Where did that come from?"

"It has been here all this time, you just didn't notice it."

Forcing his gaze away from the stone, Erik cast a tentative glance at the rest of their surroundings. Now that he was looking carefully at the gloomy clearing, he could see more than a dozen other mounded thickets of weeds and grass scattered everywhere, every single one of them large enough to conceal the gruesome marker of a grave. "What stranger does this one belong to?" he asked, trying to sound nonchalant even though his blood was beginning to freeze within his veins.

Without having to look at the stone, Daniel recited its markings. "Brielle Donovan… 1846 to 1873… So I suppose that makes her twenty-seven when she dies."

"Brielle Donovan? Aria's mother? Surely not…" Taking a step forward, he peered at the stone at Daniel's feet, trying to see the name for himself, not wanting to believe that the bright young woman he had seen earlier would come to such an early end. Just thinking about it created a sick churning in the pit of his stomach. It simply felt wrong. Every fiber of his being screamed this wrongness. "She was in perfect health…"

Allowing the grass to sweep back in front of the stone, Daniel shrugged. "Things can change." Taking a few steps to the left, he scraped the toe of his shoe through another pile of decaying vegetation, revealing yet another stone. "Conner Sinclair… 1841 to 1874," he stated without preamble.

"Now I know you are making this up. That obnoxious man would be the last person who would give up the ghost so soon."

"Yeah, he did seem rather lively. I imagine that he would be rather interesting to know in real life. Though I suppose there isn't much time for that because I am not lying. He dies soon after his sister."

"How?"

"You will just have to see for yourself." As he spoke, the old familiar doorframe appeared at his back, punctuating his words with a grim significance.

Balking, Erik felt a suffocating shroud of unease wrap about him. He knew that whatever lay beyond the door was surely another nightmarish scene to add to the memories of this journey, and he wasn't entirely sure that he wanted to see anymore deaths. He recognized the softening of his heart with an anxious concern, knowing that there was a time in his life when he wouldn't have cared what befell any of the people he had seen in his last jump. The change was something to worry about. It was enough to drive icy daggers of sorrow through his heart at the mere sight of their gravestones.

"Never mind… I do not have to know," he said looking to Daniel warily. "Besides, I do not trust you to lead me through unharmed. You all but fainted not fifteen minutes ago and surely couldn't have the strength to go on so soon." Still uncomfortable with the amount of concern he felt leaping about with his every heartbeat, Erik hid it behind what he hoped was a convincing portrayal of selfishness.

Tilting his head to one side to study his charge, Daniel eyed Erik with an unconvinced frown. Then, wagging a finger at Erik's hesitation, Daniel walked to the doorway. "Too late now. Besides, you have to keep going until the end. Stopping here would only do me more damage than good. The only resolution is to continue and complete our journey… for good or bad."

"I never said anything about you, but if you want to puff up your already astronomically sized ego, then go ahead. It makes no difference to me…" Erik said dryly, though his mind raced to find a reason to stay here just a moment longer. He wasn't entirely convinced as to the truth of Daniel's statement. The boy hid his weaknesses with all the mastery that Erik himself had often employed.

Feeling trapped now because he knew there was no other place for him to go, Erik took a few reluctant steps forward. "Can you at least promise to make this one quick?"

Taking a moment to consider Erik's request, Daniel finally nodded. "I suppose I can do that," he said easily as he turned and strolled through the now open doorway.

Following along, Erik passed through the darkness within the doorway without incident. Coming out on the other side, he found himself in a darkened room lit only by the faint glow of a single candle. Daniel stood directly in front of him for a moment then moved off to one side to lean casually against the nearest wall, his face thrown into sharp relief by the dim light and deep shadows. At first Erik thought that he was standing in an empty room, but a slight movement followed by a dull rapping sound caught his attention from the corner of his eye. Bracing himself, Erik turned to find the other occupants of the room, but he couldn't have prepared himself for what he saw.

Sitting stiffly in a plain wooden rocking chair, Brielle swayed forward and then back, using the ball of her foot to propel the chair in an eerily slow and rhythmic motion. The back of the rocker knocked lightly against the wall behind her, repeating the hollow knocking sound Erik had heard before, but she showed no sign of hearing the thud. Over and over she repeated this trancelike movement, her hands clutching the armrests with a white-knuckled tenacity and her hair hanging in disarray about her chillingly vacant face. It was unnerving, to say the least, to see her remaining so still for so long. Every movement, besides the rocking of the chair, appeared suppressed to the point of appearing nonexistent. Even her breathing was an almost imperceptible rising and falling of her chest. It was as if she had transformed into stone.

The only parts of her that still held some semblance of life were her wide, unblinking eyes. They burned within her pale face with dry-eyed despair, capturing the light of the candle and reflecting it back into the room like silver lined mirrors as she stared fixedly at a low lying table directly in front of her. Following her gaze, Erik sucked in a strangled breath when he saw Aria's still and lifeless body laid out upon the tabletop.

"The funeral is tomorrow," Daniel supplied from the corner of the room. "It took them an entire day to fish her out of the water. The ice was a problem..."

Nodding in acknowledgement, Erik hesitantly took several steps forward. Drawn to the splinters of grief he saw in Brielle's shattered gaze, he paced to the opposite side of the table from her without even realizing he had moved. "Strange…" he murmured, barely moving his lips as he stared into the white-haired woman's face.

"What is?" Daniel prodded gently after Erik lapsed into a tense silence.

Unaware that he had spoken aloud, the masked man glanced up at Daniel uneasily. "Her eyes…" he replied vaguely. "It is like they are a mirror of my own… the violent grief… the barely maintained control… It is strange… I feel as if I should know her because of those eyes. It is like I have looked into them a thousand times before… seen them in a mirror every time I looked upon my reflection." As he continued to speak he could hear his tone rise in agitation but was unable to stop it. He felt his breath catch in his chest as his throat constricted with an unexpectedly raw wave of emotion. Something about this young woman's silent despair plucked at the very core of his being, pulling upon old wounds and opening them up to share in her pain.

Taking a shaky breath, Brielle brought the rocker to a sudden stop, throwing the room into a ringing quiet without the thump of her chair to fill the dark space. Raising her eyes from where her daughter's body lay, she blinked vaguely up at Erik's face. Her gaze locked with his for a split second as the dams she had been holding in check ruptured, spilling tears down her cheeks. Then throwing herself forward she buried her face in her hands upon the table top, sobbing brokenly in great gasping breaths.

"This is wrong…" she hiccupped. "It wasn't supposed to be like this!!! What am I to do now?!! She is afraid of the dark… how am I to bury her? She is afraid… of the dark…"

Turning his face away from the sight, Erik staggered back a step. Daniel pushed off from the wall and strode forward. He lingered a moment over Brielle's shuddering form, as if he wanted to reach out and soothe a hand over her back, but then moved on to come to stand at Erik's side. "As you asked, I will skip ahead... to make it brief."

Forgoing the use of the door, Daniel merely closed his eyes and the room faded from sight, the sound of Brielle's tortured cries echoing within the still air long after she had vanished. After a short pause the darkness began to dissipate, revealing the sight of a beautifully appointed bedroom. Based on the rich fabrics used and the elaborate design of the furniture, Erik assumed they were now within the residence of a filthy rich business tycoon or nobleman. The sheer curtains on the window billowed inward as a night breeze whispered through the open balcony doors, bringing with it the soft scent of spring flowers. The door at the front of the room opened, throwing a shaft of light across the carpeted floor.

Turning in time to see Brielle move into the room, her petite frame draped in a fashionable silk gown, Erik stepped away from the open balcony doors, automatically fading into the shadows surrounding the giant four poster bed. Watching the Irishwoman soberly walk over to an ornate vanity mirror, he was struck by how different she appeared from the animated young woman he had seen before Aria's death. _Of course that is to be expected…_

Brielle sat down on a small stool and removed the pair of diamond earrings she was wearing. Catching sight of her gaze in the mirror, he stilled at what he saw. Her eyes, those oddly captivating eyes, were as dull and flat as wet slate, completely devoid of all spirit and emotion. They were the eyes of soul long since dead inside, the eyes of a corpse who simply hadn't stopped breathing yet. It chilled him to the very bone.

The sound of heavy masculine footsteps drew Erik's attention away from the pale-haired woman to the unwelcome sight of Andrew Donovan strolling into the room. "Well that opera was a complete flop. The composer should be shot, the bleeding lunatic," he complained as he worked to unhook his cufflinks. "What did you think?"

Folding her hands in her lap, Brielle met his gaze in the mirror. "I suppose you are right… I am not very good at judging those sorts of things."

Smiling at that, as if he already knew the truth of what she said, Andrew strolled across the room. Bending down he placed an intimate kiss on the nape of her neck. "That is true, which is why we work so well together. I guide you through all the troublesome details so that you needn't worry your pretty little head about them… and you make me happy. I am so glad you finally agreed to be my wife. I had waited forever to hear you say it."

"Yes," Brielle agreed flatly, leaning minutely away from Andrew's touch. "I am glad too…"

Moving to remove his jacket, Andrew stepped away from the Irishwoman, apparently missing her lack of enthusiasm. "But I was thinking that perhaps it is time we began to think about starting a family of our own. It was always very important to my father for the Donovan name to be passed on. And now that we have been married for nearly a year I should think that this would be a good…"

"I will not be having any more children," Brielle stated firmly.

"Now, now Brielle…"

"I will not be having any more children," she repeated as she turned on the stool and looked directly at Andrew. "I will not risk losing another one. I am sorry, Andrew, but I thought you understood that."

His smile quickly dropping into a disapproving frown, Andrew raised his hands in a completely unnecessary calming gesture. "Perhaps now is not the best time to discuss this. I think you will find that in another month or so you will think on things a little differently," he said smoothly, his tone becoming patronizing. "Now I was thinking that tomorrow perhaps we could go and call upon the Grants."

"Give it a month or a year, it will not matter," Brielle cut in.

Spinning around, a mean light entering his gaze, Andrew threw his hands up in the air. "I do not want to hear this from you!"

Undaunted, Brielle got to her feet. "I have tried to be a good wife to you, Andrew, but I will not compromise on this. You will not change my mind. In this, at least I am certain."

Staring at the Irishwoman as if she had grown a second head, Andrew let out an oath and strode toward the balcony doors. Batting the curtains out of his way, he swept outside. Following after him Brielle stepped out onto the balcony. Losing sight of the couple at this point, Erik started forward, coming to stand at the balcony threshold.

"Andrew, I really am sorry."

"Sorry? Sorry? Kindly refrain from speaking when you haven't any idea of what you are talking about," Andrew snapped nastily. "You should just be grateful that I was willing to take an Irish nobody as a wife. You shouldn't contradict me on something so important!! You should be grateful!!"

Sucking in a breath, Brielle pursed her lips into a thin line. "Do not speak to me like that."

Stabbing a finger at her through the air, Andrew's eyes lit up at her words. "Do not tell me what to do," he hissed. "My whole life people always try to tell me what to do!!"

"Andrew, calm down." Stepping forward, Brielle reached out to lay a hand upon his shoulder.

"Shut up!!" Impulsively striking out, Andrew pushed Brielle away from him, knocking her back several steps. Losing her balance, she tripped over the hem of her skirt and stumbled backward against the balcony railing. Unable to stop her momentum, she toppled over the edge with a gasp and plummeted into the darkness below.

Staring at the spot where she had been in disbelief, Andrew ran to the railing. "Brielle?!! Brielle!! Oh my God!"

Coming to stand next to his charge, Daniel watched as Andrew spun around and raced out of the room. "Isn't it strange how fast it can happen. One moment is all it takes."

"S-She is dead?" Erik asked dumbly, the shock numbing his mind as he turned to look at Daniel.

"Yes, broke her neck. Instant death," the young man replied sadly. "Although I suppose that is a mercy in a way… rather than having to put up with an overbearing and unstable husband for the rest of her life."

"And this is all because Aria died?"

"Yes. If Aria hadn't died, Brielle never would have agreed to marry him. The grief drove her to allow herself to be led into it. And if Aria had lived Brielle would have ended up marrying someone else entirely."

"And what of Conner… he dies within a year of his sister."

"He discovers the details of Brielle's 'accident.' Knowing that the man he hates was responsible for his littler sister's death will be enough to drive him over the edge. And so he will take a pistol and shoot Andrew Donovan dead. He will be tried for the murder of an English lord and he will be hanged for the offense."

"All because I was supposed to be there at the pond that day?"

"Now you are beginning to catch on," Daniel murmured quietly as the house faded around them, only to be replaced once more with the grim graveyard. "It sure has taken you long enough…"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**P.S. If anyone is interested in reading more about Conner, Brielle, Aria, and Andrew go and check out my other story 'Unseen Genius.' It tells how they actually meet Erik and what happens when he is actually there. (Be warned the first 6 chapters are just intro so please at least make it to 7 before you judge it.) The pond scene is in chapters 24 and 25. **


	6. On Dangerous Ground

**Hey all!! One more chapter to go after this one!! Gosh time sure flies. Sorry again about the long wait. I seem to be a magnet for craziness these last couple weeks… er… months. **

**Anyway a huge thanks to Terpsichore for her kick ass editing skills!! She is the best! Oh and also I have to mention the great work of Silvan, who did an awesome fan art for this story. Her pic of Daniel is so cute that I totally squealed when I first saw it. If you want to check it out go to her deviantart page at **

**http :// silverwing 24. deviantart. com/ **

**(to get this to work just copy/paste it and then remove the spaces. For some reason ffnet doesn't allow web addresses.) **

**Oh and also if you are interested you can check out the other fan arts that have been done for my other story "Unseen Genius" at the fan club's site on deviantart. (Yeah I know… a fan club. Crazy, cool huh?) The address should be in my profile. **

Chapter 6: On Dangerous Ground

Standing immobile in the hateful clearing, Erik wrapped his arms about his middle to ward off the chill freezing his blood within his veins. A weariness like he had never known before settled within him, seeping through his gut and going bone deep. Seeking a moment's rest, he maneuvered over to a grizzled tree and sank to the ground at its base.

Cracks were beginning to form in the bedrock of his convictions. He was no longer sure that his life was merely an elaborately cruel joke played upon him by the heavens. And this realization was sucking the strength from every cell in his body. It threatened the very infrastructure that most of his adult life had been woven around. If he didn't have something to blame for the traumas he had endured then he had no idea how to cope with them. It was as if the rug had been pulled out from under his feet, leaving him off balance and reeling with a new cacophony of emotions surging through him.

A moment later Daniel flopped down beside him, his dark head leaning back to rest against the tree trunk. "You look like you are going to be sick to your stomach," Daniel murmured as he rooted around in his pants pocket. After a few seconds he pulled out a cotton handkerchief and handed it to his charge.

Staring at the offering for a moment, Erik couldn't stop the deeply ingrained whisperings of suspicion from flickering through his mind. Recognizing the absurdity of the instinctual distrust, Erik still found himself unwilling to push it aside; at least it was familiar. Daniel picked up on the masked man's hesitation with all the acuity of a bloodhound on a scent, his dark brows rising incrementally in question. It was the unassuming concern in the boy's expression that finally knocked some sense back into Erik's brain, and with the sense came the shame. _Just one more thing to add to my list of character flaws. Suspicious to a fault. _Reaching out he took the handkerchief and gratefully mopped at his clammy brow.

"Thank you," he managed to mutter through the guilt coiling tightly within his stomach.

Shrugging off Erik's thanks, Daniel lapsed into a lazy silence, accepting his charge's strange behavior without comment. Hooking one ankle over the other, the boy closed his eyes, looking as if he planned to take a nap. Irritated that his guide should be so comfortable when he himself was practically coming apart at the seams, Erik crossed his arms over his chest and glared over his shoulder at the young man. "What do you think you are doing?" he finally demanded, determined to make the boy just as on edge as he was. After all, misery loves company.

"Resting my eyes," Daniel replied without stirring from his comfortable position.

"How can you think of relaxing at a time like this? Are you not the one always rushing me along? Shouldn't you have the next part set up already?"

"I have not decided where to take you next, actually. There is so much to see that I wish to choose my options carefully," the boy said dryly, cracking one eye open to peer over at his disgruntled companion. "And besides you are the one who sat down first."

Opening his mouth to spew out another retort, Erik quickly shut it again when he realized his guide had a point. He _had_ been the one to collapse at the bottom of the tree first. So he really couldn't fault the boy for following suit, especially since Daniel had not been feeling well. In fact, he didn't even know why he should be getting so irritated over such a small matter. Sighing, he forced himself to relax. "Never mind then. You are right. And I think we both deserve a rest after everything we have gone through."

Tilting his head to look around the curved surface of the tree trunk, Daniel studied Erik incredulously. "I was right? By the saints, I like the sound of that."

Rather than heeding his natural inclination to become annoyed over the sarcasm he heard in Daniel's voice, Erik remained calm. After a moment of suppressing his temper he was surprised to find an amused smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Why do you say that? 'By the saints'… I have never heard that saying before."

His expression brightening, Daniel sat forward, drawing his knees up to his chest. "We are allowed to see glimpses of our future parents from time to time. And that is a saying that I picked up on from conversations I have heard. I do not know why I like it so much." Pausing here, Daniel furrowed his brow in thought. "I suppose it makes me feel closer to them," he finally said, shooting a quick, embarrassed glance Erik's way, no doubt waiting for the masked man to spout some sort of withering remark.

Slightly surprised by Daniel's uncertain confession, Erik scratched absently at his chin. Knowing that the boy was off balance as well made the chaotic emotions within Erik settle slightly, easing the tension which had been clenching at his shoulders. "So you know what your parents are going to be like even before you are born? What if you do not like what you see?" he asked evenly, hoping to relieve the expectant tension he saw in Daniel's expression. Focusing completely on his young companion's face, Erik began to wonder when he had come to worry so acutely about the boy's emotional well-being.

Obviously relieved that his confession hadn't been met with derision and pleased with Erik's interest, Daniel flashed a wide grin, his open expression only highlighting how very young he appeared to be. "Everyone is given a choice, of course, about whether they wish to go forward with what has been chosen for them. But most decide to follow the path set out for them anyway."

"Even if they know that they are walking into a life of suffering? Who would choose that?" Erik scoffed lightly.

Raising a finger thoughtfully to his lips, Daniel considered Erik's point. "I suppose it is because from this vantage we can also see that suffering is temporary, just as a single lifetime is temporary. But the connections a person makes just by being born are eternal. They ripple down through time even after the source has long since passed on."

"That is incredibly hard to believe."

"I suppose it is, but I could show you events and people affected by your lifetime a hundred or even a thousand years into the future. For example, what would you say if I told you that within forty years from now someone is going to write a book that is completely about the shenanigans of a certain Phantom of the Opera?"

"I would call you a bold-faced liar. Who would want to read something like that?"

Chuckling lightly, Daniel shrugged. "The author will take some poetic license, I believe… but then in just over one hundred years from now a man will write a play that is closer to the truth. It is all about a tortured and misunderstood artist who lives under the Paris opera house… The story is enough to cause generations of people, mostly women, to lose their hearts by the final act." Raising a hand to rest over his heart, Daniel cast a sidelong glance Erik's way with a barely suppressed smile. Without saying another word, he silently patted his chest, mimicking the pitter pat sound of a beating heart.

"That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard!" Erik sniffed, crinkling his nose in distaste to cover the startled blush coloring his cheeks. Though he would never admit it, the very thought that strangers could one day know about his ruin of a life was mortifying. _He is teasing me… women loosing their hearts? Ridiculous!! _

Ignoring the gruff reply, Daniel dropped his hand back to his side and continued. "The music is nice but the ending leaves much to be desired. He cuts the blasted thing off at the most unsatisfying point in the whole story," he grumbled as he glared off to the side in thought. Seemingly lost in his moody consideration, Daniel missed the growing skepticism on Erik's face.

"Ha, ha, very funny," Erik said dryly. "You have the wildest sort of imagination I have ever encountered."

"Strangely enough I was telling the truth about that."

"The day that anyone goes to see a play about _me _is the day that hell will freeze over. Honestly, one hundred years? Ha!"

Not pushing the subject any further, Daniel gave up in trying to convince his charge. "Ah, well, don't believe me then. See if I care. But I only told you to illustrate how easily a single person's story can live on beyond their lifetime. I suppose I should count myself lucky that you don't believe me…. Imagine the size your ego would be if you did!" Bursting into peals of laughter, the boy wrapped his arms about his middle to contain his mirth.

Settling down after a moment or two under Erik's withering gaze, Daniel took several calming breaths. "But seriously… you cannot deny that even modern times can be affected by those in the past. And even the lowest street peddler is able to boast of leaving some sort of lasting effect on those that come after them. Everything is connected. Everything counts for something. It is just how things are. Whether you want it to be or not." Meeting his Erik's glare evenly, Daniel merely smiled calmly.

Frowning at the serenity and almost casual wisdom flowing within Daniel's every word, Erik remained silent for some time, his irritation with the boy's wild musings only going skin deep. Clenching his jaw shut, he wondered how someone of such apparent youth could be so sure about so many things, when he himself was no longer certain of anything. "You are annoyingly intelligent for a whelp," Erik finally muttered, a little embarrassed by the traces of respect he felt for his young guide stirring within him.

"Thanks. Apparently I am lucky enough to get that from both my parents; dogged logic from my mother and artistic insight from my father. The best of both worlds."

Shaking his head over Daniel's good mood, Erik leaned back against the tree and looked up at the swirling gray sky above them. "You seem to think very highly of your parents. Whenever you speak about them you cannot help but smile. Hopefully they deserve that amount of devotion."

"I wasn't so sure that they would at first. They both have led hard lives, each in their own way, and people do not always act their best when put under strain. But I know that my mother has a kind nature and, given the chance, would always help another in need. And my father…." Pausing here, Daniel followed Erik's gaze up to the sky. "My father, I am coming to think, is a good man, behind all the fortifications he has built around his heart. And I am willing to bet my life that he will rise up to my expectations. That they both will…."

Unsure of what to say, Erik tapped a rapid rhythm on the top of one knee. This was the longest conversation of a personal nature that had passed between them up to this point, and despite the fact that he was enjoying the light interlude he was beginning to feel the strain on his very limited social graces. Feeling awkward and out of place, he silently sought for something else to say. "Your life seems to be rather high stakes to place on people you hardly even know," he finally muttered, wincing at how pessimistic he sounded compared to the quiet hope in Daniel's voice.

"Some gambles require there to be high stakes in order to pay out in the end," the boy stated rather nonchalantly. "Being a man of the world you should know that."

"Forgive me, but I never was much of a gambler. I would rather be sure of an outcome before investing any energy into a prospect. I have never been one to enjoy risk. I suppose it would take a kind of bravery I have never had. Cowards, I have found, live much longer than heroes," Erik replied unapologetically.

Sucking in a surprised intake of air, Daniel sat forward, resting his hands on his knees with all the intent focus of a child. "Really? You do not _really_ think of yourself that way, do you?"

Unsure of his companion's meaning, Erik leaned away from Daniel's strange enthusiasm. "Why wouldn't I?"

Shaking his head vigorously from side to side, Daniel disagreed. "I think you are one of the bravest men I have ever known."

Stunned by this unexpected compliment, Erik could only stare dumbly at the boy in silence. A rush of emotion rose up within him, lodging somewhere in the back of his throat. Fighting off the onslaught, he struggled to harden himself against Daniel's sincerity, but he could feel his defenses failing him despite his efforts. _This is silly…. It shouldn't matter what he thinks…. _But despite his feeble protests he had to admit, it did.

"Well, that makes sense, seeing as I am the only person you have met so far," Erik said, purposely making light of the situation in order to preserve a shred of his dignity.

"I am serious!" Daniel exclaimed with a frown. "There are many kinds of bravery, Erik. Not all of it involves white horses and knights in shining armor. The bravest people in the world are those who wade through the hardships of life without buckling under the pressure. That is what you have done since the moment you were born. Someday I can only hope to be just like you," he finished, his voice trailing off softly into silence, the uncertain embarrassment Erik had seen earlier reappearing to stain Daniel's face a deep scarlet.

Pressing his lips tightly shut in order to keep them from trembling, Erik turned his face quickly away from the boy. A sweet sort of pain flickered to life deep within his chest, burning holes through the icy defenses around his deadened heart. A tingling ache, much like the painful exhilaration of blood returning to a half frozen limb, suffused his body, hurting and healing him at the same time, and leaving him reeling from the blow. In his life he had grown hardened towards the insults which had been constantly thrown at him. And yet, with just a single compliment this annoying child had been able to touch him in a way that no one else had, not even his beloved Christine. It was frightening to feel this way, as if he were no longer in control of his own emotions. He honestly did not know how to handle this new rush of joy glowing steadily brighter within the darkness of his mind. _What is this feeling? I can hardly breath…_

Terrifyingly confused, Erik opened his mouth to deny everything Daniel had just said, automatically falling back on an old self-deprecating habit. "You do not know what you are saying. You hardly even know me… how can you say such things?"

"I have been watching you for a long time, much longer than I said so before," Daniel admitted, a touch of surprised wariness entering his tone as he neared the end of the sentence and realized that perhaps he had said too much. Shifting uncertainly, he turned his porcelain blue eyes to the ground, searching the soil at his feet as if silently warring with himself over something. "I shouldn't have said that."

Drawing his brows down into a severe line, Erik swung his gaze around to glare at Daniel until finally the boy shivered and glanced back up at him. "Why would you do such a thing? What could you have possibly wanted to gain from watching my life when you did not even know that we would meet until just recently?"

Daniel opened his mouth to reply but then anxiously closed it again. Looking as if he were on the verge of revealing something vitally important, Daniel hesitated and then momentarily glanced up at the gloomy, slate gray sky, drawing in a long shaky breath. Visibly steadying himself, the boy schooled his features into a mask of calm, barely holding onto the tenuous control he still retained. "Well, I think that is enough chatting for now. It is best if we get on our away again."

When Daniel moved to stand, Erik quickly reached out to grab the boy's elbow, his hand passing straight through as if nothing were there. "That is not what you were going to say! Tell me what you were going to say!" he demanded roughly, feeling an acute sense of panic flare within him at Daniel's withdrawal. Some unnamed part of his psyche recognized instinctively that whatever the boy had been about to reveal was desperately important, as important as taking his next breath, but he just couldn't grasp why. And he could not bring himself to allow the conversation to end there.

"You don't understand. I… I cannot…." Daniel sputtered, stumbling back several feet to put some distance between them, the agitation in his expression growing by the second. "Just forget what I said."

"It is not going to be that easy!"

"It was never supposed to go this far. You were never supposed to ask these questions," the boy breathed as if to himself. Raising both hands up to bury in his dark hair, Daniel closed his eyes tightly, his expression pinching into a pained grimace as all the color drained from his rugged features. "Just forget what I said… don't ask me anymore."

"Why… Why can't I ask?! What is wrong?"

Dropping his hands to his sides, Daniel raised haunted eyes to where Erik was climbing to his feet next to the tree. His stood perfectly still for several moments, the last shreds of his reserves finally shattering from the pressure which had obviously been building for some time. "Because if I tell you, and you don't care, I think… I think it would tear me in two. I am afraid you will shrug it off like you did with Christine… or with Aria… or with Brielle. That it won't matter enough to change your heart. I am afraid it would make me disappear forever… I do not know where I will go if I fade away… I am afraid of it all just ending in nothing… I am afraid!" he cried, the blue of his eyes burning overly bright within his ashen face.

Completely at a loss as to what his young companion was talking about, but wanting to soothe him all the same, Erik came to stand directly in front of him. Reaching out a hand in an instinctive attempt to calm the terrified desperation he saw coiling within Daniel's every motion. Erik watched as the fine tremor shivering through the boy's body turn into a violent shaking. "Hush, calm yourself. Nothing is going to happen to you. There is nothing here to be afraid of. You are not going to disappear," he said gently, momentarily registering surprise that he was even capable of such soft platitudes.

Covering his face with both hands, Daniel appeared unconvinced. Grimacing, Erik took a step forward and tried again. "You are not going to disappear," he repeated more firmly. "Do not say such a stupid thing."

Starting at the slightly harsher note in Erik's tone, Daniel looked up. Blinking at the masked man for several moments in tense silence, Daniel let out a shaky breath, the naked fear behind his eyes slipping away as he lowered his hands to his side. "You can guarantee that, can you?"

Opening his mouth to reply, Erik was interrupted before he could utter a single word. "Never mind. Do not answer that… I already know you cannot," Daniel said stiffly, the hard set of his jaw showing the effort it was taking for him to regain control of himself. Absently massaging the joints in his left hand, as if his knuckles were paining him somehow, Daniel turned and walked over to a nearby pile of grass. "Time to continue, I think…." he said slowly, the strain of keeping his tone even clipping his words into short bursts of sound.

Following his young guide across the clearing, Erik cast a cursory glance at the stone by the boy's feet. "Daniel… you do not have to do that. Tell me what is bothering you."

Ignoring Erik's request, Daniel squatted down and swept the tall grass in front of the gravestone aside. "Meg Giry… 1852 to 1928," he said flatly, the barest tremor in the words giving away the terror which still swirled behind his eyes.

"Daniel…."

"Though she lived to a healthy age her life was as empty as a wintertime field," the boy said, raising the volume of his voice to be heard over Erik's protests. "When she was still young she dreamed of becoming a prima ballerina… she wanted to travel and see the world. But she was deceived by a young nobleman who promised to marry her and help her career. He left her with nothing but broken dreams and a bitter heart. She stopped practicing and never pursued her aspirations. She died a jaded old woman with ice where her heart should have been. And of course the Opera House fell into disrepair after many years of mismanagement. People simply lost interest when the managers failed to secure note worthy performers."

Flustered by the story he was listening to, Erik didn't know what to react to first. Worry for Daniel warred with a sickening sense of dread he felt for Meg and the Opera's fate. Somehow picturing the bright blonde girl he had seen grow up alongside Christine as a sour-faced old woman didn't sit well in his mind. And imagining the Opera, _his_ Opera, as anything other than the opulent palace for the arts was just beyond his ability. Both possibilities left a bad taste in his mouth.

Clearing his throat, trying to push the disheartening images from his mind, Erik approached the graveside just as Daniel was getting back to his feet; his worry for his obviously upset companion winning out over all else. "Daniel… it won't work. You cannot change the subject that simply."

Pausing long enough to give Erik a momentary glance, with a heated desperation burning within his eyes, Daniel hurriedly moved away to another nearby gravestone. "This… This is Carlotta…" he began unsteadily, his voice losing some more of its forced calm. Raising a hand up to rub tiredly at the bridge of his nose, Daniel fell silent.

Becoming alarmed at the dark smudges he now saw under Daniel's eyes, Erik stepped forward and batted the tuft of grass in front of Carlotta's grave out of the boy's hands. "Stop it. You are not feeling well again."

"I think that is the understatement of the year…." Daniel replied back weakly.

"Perhaps you should sit down. You have gotten yourself too worked up."

Waving away Erik's concern, Daniel turned and walked with a strange lolling gait further down the row of overgrown stones, his feet dragging across the ground. Searching each grave with a quick desperate glance, the pale-faced boy passed up several before coming to a sudden stop before one that had no dates upon its surface. "Sergeant Robert Donovan…"

"Wait just a moment!!"

Clenching and unclenching his fists painfully, Daniel pointed to the dozen or so other graves surrounding Robert Donovan's, his words speeding up as if he were afraid of running out of time. "That one is Private Bill O'Brian. The one beyond that is Private David Kelly. Private John McDonald… Private George Cummins… Private Ben Sullivan… Private Patrick Smith…" Sagging in the middle of his rapid fire list, Daniel bent down to lean a supporting hand against the nearest stone. "Private Ronald Webster," he continued after two gasping breathes. Staggering away from the stone he was leaning against, Daniel tottered several more feet down the line before his legs gave out from underneath him.

Running forward, his stomach turning leaden within him, Erik knelt by Daniel's side. "For God's sake, who are they?! I do not know these men!!"

Blinking up at Erik's face blankly for a few seconds, Daniel finally focused in on his charge's features. "They are all going to be soldiers in a war that will engulf the entire world."

"The entire world?" Erik repeated dumbly, his hands hovering over Daniel's shoulders as his mind raced with a way to help his young friend.

Nodding despairingly, Daniel's gaze flickered away from Erik to the sky above. "Yes," he rasped. "Robert Donovan was supposed to be in that war. He was supposed to lead a squad into combat… and under his leadership they would all survive and be able to return home. But in this world he never joined the army because he was never born… and all the men he was supposed to save, died. And all the families they should have started will never be… and their children's children... and their great grandchildren… all will never be born. Hundreds and hundreds of people… will disappear…"

Letting out an anguished gasp when Daniel's image began to waver in and out of focus, Erik shook his head violently. "You are making yourself sick!! Stop this, it isn't worth it!"

"Not worth the salvation of your soul?"

"I will not watch you die because of this… because of me!"

Tilting his blue-tinged lips upward into the ghost of a smile, Daniel closed his eyes. "I am not dying… I was never born, remember. I am just fading away…"

"Why!! Tell me why!!" Erik nearly shouted as Daniel's form finally blinked back into full focus. "Tell me!!"

Bringing his gaze back to Erik's face, the dark circles around his eyes looking more like deep bruises now, Daniel lost his smile as the fear once again clouded his taut features. "If I do… it may be the last thing I will be able to say to you. I don't think… I have much time left. I am not supposed to tell you… but… God help me, I want you to know… before I… before I go…"

Petrified by the prospect of losing the one human being he considered as a friend, Erik could only shake his head in denial. "No… just say that you give up. I can go back… I am not afraid of dying. You do not have to do this anymore!"

Shifting his hand upon the ground, Daniel weakly gestured to one final gravestone. "I already told you that we can't stop in the middle… it is all or nothing…" Shuddering slightly, the boy tried to reach out and touch the hidden headstone near his side, his already pale face going white with the effort. "I do not want to… become nothing," he whimpered.

"You will not… I will not let it happen! I will do anything!"

"Anything?" Daniel asked on a sigh as he slowly cleared the headstone of the debris covering its face. "Will you believe me, then? That… that your life… has merit? That you can do good… that… that it is worth the pain?"

"I…I…" Following Daniel's gesture, Erik looked at the final name on the last headstone in the clearing. Reading the inscription over and over again he could not quite believe what he was seeing. "Daniel…" he whispered through numbed lips, the answer to his question, the very answer which had been tickling the back of his mind since he first laid eyes on his temperamental young guide, beginning to rise to the surface of his mind. "Why is your name here?"

"Remember how I told you that your life somehow affected my birth?" the boy asked quietly.

"Yes…."

"It is because _you _are supposed to be my father, Erik. Without you… I will never be born."


	7. Into the Unknown

**It is here! The Update! Hurray! Hope you all enjoy it! Thanks to Terpsichore once again for her great editing!! (Oh and P.S. she took part in a round robin story that you might want to check out.) **

**Oh and I also posted a one shot story called "Hands of Fate" that is about how Erik got the stuffed monkey while he was in the gypsy camp. So check it out!! **

Chapter 7: Into the Unknown

Following Daniel's gesture, Erik looked at the final name on the last headstone in the clearing. Reading the inscription over and over again he could not quite believe what he was seeing. "Daniel…" he whispered through numbed lips, the answer to his question, the very answer which had been tickling the back of his mind since he first laid eyes on his temperamental young guide, beginning to rise to the surface of his mind. "Why is your name here?"

"Remember how I told you that your life somehow affected my birth?" the boy asked quietly.

"Yes…." Erik murmured with his eyes still riveted upon the stone.

"It is because _you _are supposed to be my father, Erik. Without you… I will never be born."

Erik's jaw went slack as he gaped down at Daniel, hardly seeing the weakly earnest expression upon the boy's face as his mind ground to a complete and utter halt. A moment passed where he struggled in vain to restart the murmurings within his head, vaguely aware that he should say something, say anything in order to ease the misery he saw burning within Daniel's troubled blue eyes. Eyes, he suddenly noticed, that were the exact color and shape as his own. How could he have not noticed that before? Choking on his next breath, and then the next, Erik felt a thousand tiny pinpricks stabbing into his head, the lack of oxygen and complete breakdown of conscious thought adding together to drive him to the verge of fainting.

"Erik?" Daniel's voice questioned quietly, sounding muffled and distant over the pounding echo of Erik's own heartbeat. "Erik?"

Erik was unable to respond as a quick rushing of blood burned a path straight to his head, dimming his vision until he could see nothing but the glittering blue of his young guide's eyes. No, not his guide any longer, his son's eyes. And like a match being struck in a darkened room his mind jerked back into motion, spurred into reanimation by that one thought. _My son…._

Blinking to clear his vision of the gray curling about its edges, Erik felt all the air rush from his lungs in a sudden and wit-saving gasp. Sensation in his outer extremities slowly began to return to him as he was finally able to catch his breath, the soothing brush of the cool graveyard breeze quickly reducing the sting of the flush staining his cheeks even as the feel of the damp earth under his hands brought his flighty thoughts back into sharp focus. The intricate cogs and spindles of his powerful intellect sped up until they raced to comprehend the monumental information that Daniel had just revealed to him. Strange that such an impossible thing could be summed up so easily in just a few words.

"_You are supposed to be my father… my father… my father…"_ Daniel's words chanted insistently within his mind, echoing to the farthest recesses and darkest corners of his psyche like a prayer in a shadowed cathedral.

"You must be mistaken," he murmured dumbly before he could stop himself.

Daniel went utterly still at Erik's words, then slowly he let out a shaky breath and squeezed his eyes tightly closed. A small, sickly smile pulled up at his blue-tinged mouth, but it did nothing to hide the expression of grief darkening his young face. Opening his eyes slowly, as if even that small action tired him, Daniel blinked an over-bright gaze up at the gloomy sky above, the dark circles under his eyes only highlighting the desolation growing within him. It was painfully apparent that Erik's denial was not what the boy had been hoping to hear.

"Oh no…no. Please don't say that," Daniel whispered brokenly, his image blinking out of focus as a faint rush of aggrieved color momentarily rose to his pallid cheeks.

Cursing himself for his own stupidity, Erik raised his hands in an automatic gesture meant to soothe the pain etching itself across Daniel's face, his palms hovering uselessly just above the boy's shoulders. With a fine tremor shaking through his body Erik shook his head from side to side. "Please do not speak. You are only getting worse," he pleaded, for the first time in his life finding that he was not above begging, and he felt no shame in doing it now. "Please… just… just lie still."

Ignoring Erik, a weak flash of anger worked its way into Daniel's gaze, the defensive temper sharply reminding Erik of himself. "I warned you… but you insisted. You had to know… And then… then… you deny it."

"It was a stupid thing to say. But this is the first time I have ever been confronted with a son, so forgive me if my articulation is slightly lacking!" Erik snapped, wincing at the bold-faced sarcasm he heard in his own words. _What is wrong with me? _he wondered with a panicky sort of desperation. _Can I not keep my mouth shut for five minutes? Can I not say something nice for once? _

Feeling his lips pinch into a tight line, Erik frantically catalogued the gut-wrenching signs of imminent death stealing over Daniel's young features. He recognized the taut, gray skin and glassy eyes, had seen it on enough faces to know that the boy didn't have much time left; and he also knew with a sinking heart that this was his fault. And yet, he found his heart rebelling against this grim knowledge. With every nerve and every fiber of his being he fought against what his mind knew to be true.

"For the love of God lie still so I can think!" he barked, raising his hands to run through his hair. "There has to be something… I just have to think… there is always an answer… if I can just… just think."

His voice petered off into silence and his eyes strayed to the ground as he fought to control the panic wrapping like bands of iron about his chest, but his body just wouldn't stop shaking and his mind just wouldn't settle no matter how hard he concentrated. He could not allow Daniel to go without a fight. The boy had been the one person to ever treat him like a human being even without the comforting disguise of his mask, to treat him with kindness and sarcasm without the ghost of pity haunting his words. It had been in Daniel's company that, for the first time, he had not felt like a monster. And now that he had found someone he could amazingly consider a friend Erik knew that he would rather die than to sit back and watch the boy wither away. _There has to be something! Think Erik! You have never failed to think before. You are the God-damned genius… so… just think!!_

"You do not believe me," Daniel murmured, his voice quickly drawing Erik's attention back from his inner turmoil.

Cursing under his breath, Erik felt the terrible fear within him rise, threatening to completely break what little control he had left. "I do not see how I can," he answered in a slightly distracted tone. "It is so sudden… and I… I…" Stopping in mid stutter Erik suddenly realized that it wasn't disbelief that had him choking on his words.

Shockingly enough he believed Daniel wholeheartedly. The truth had been staring him in the face the whole time after all. Unconsciously he must have suspected something to accept the truth so quickly. The boy's sharp wit and quick temper were so similar to his own that he now doubted his own intelligence in not realizing sooner what Daniel had to spell out for him. _I should have noticed._ And worse yet, looking at Daniel's unnaturally bright eyes and imperious features was eerily like looking into a mirror. Daniel, Erik now knew, is what he would have looked like at eighteen had he not been born with his deformity. The boy was quite literally the very best of what Erik was. _I should have noticed!! I should have noticed!! _

But worse than the suddenness of the revelation was the responsibility now pressing down upon his shoulders. It was amazing how quickly it had come upon him. Almost as soon as Daniel had revealed his secret, Erik felt years of uncertainty spread out into his future. He knew less about children than he did about women, and that was saying something. How could he be expected to raise a child when he had no guide, no book to use for reference? The prospect of having the life of another human being solely relying upon him was terrifying. Surely, the boy would wither and die in the shadows of Erik's soul. Daniel wouldn't have a chance under his care.

"Your doubt is growing… tiresome…" Daniel muttered between clenched teeth, his words sounding oddly hollow.

Taking a steadying breath, Erik clasped his hands together to keep them from trembling. "I am not a good man…" he blurted out, a sick need to throw off this sudden responsibility pushing the words out of his mouth. _I cannot allow him to do this to himself. He said they get to choose. I will just have to convince him to choose someone else. I cannot do it… I cannot be the one. I would ruin everything! _"I have done terrible things. I am a murderer… I have killed people."

When Daniel didn't seem fully disgusted by that, Erik pushed on. "I have blackmailed and terrorized people for years. I… I have taken pleasure in causing other people pain. I hate every other living thing because not once have I been shown a scrap of kindness." Wracking his mind for more crimes to add to his list, Erik nearly missed the spark of hope begin to fade from Daniel's gaze.

"Never once?" Daniel wondered aloud, his lips barely moving with each word. Slowly turning his to the side, his eyes skittered over to stare at his name boldly printed upon the nearby headstone. "Do you really still believe that?"

"Now is not the time…" Erik replied tersely. "I know my memories… do not worry about it. Worry about yourself."

"Was I wrong to put my faith in you?" Daniel whispered quietly, his voice shaking with a vulnerability that Erik had never heard from the boy before. It touched a part of the masked man, this tender uncertainty, imparting to him just how difficult it must have been for Daniel to keep this secret for so long. No wonder the boy acted so strangely upon occasion. The poor child had had to put up with Erik's nasty comments, knowing the whole time that it was his father blackening his name. If Erik hadn't already felt a brooding sense of respect for Daniel, that alone would have surely earned it.

Unable to answer immediately, Erik felt an instant and consuming spear of guilt pierce straight through his gut. His instinctual answer to the question was yes. Agreeing would solve everything. Daniel would see that Erik wasn't worthy of the role and be free to move onto someone better, someone who wouldn't cast a pall over his future life as Erik was sure he would. But somehow he sensed that if he voiced this confirmation it would utterly destroy the tenuous friendship between them. Just thinking about the hopelessness he could now see slowly dimming the light in Daniel's eyes nearly broke his heart.

Torn between the two alternatives, Erik couldn't seem to make a decision, and for the first time he found that he did not know his own mind. How was it possible for a man who prided himself on a steadfast will to turn into a vacillating imbecile in so short a time? Rationality and sentiment collided on every level of his blackened soul, a problem he had rarely ever come across.

Even with Christine he had not fought so hard to come to a decision. She was the love of his life and there hadn't been this epic internal battle. There had been no fissure between reason and emotion because, quite simply, he hadn't really been thinking of anything at all; there had been only a chaos. But now he couldn't _help _but think, his mind raced right along with his rolling feelings, because he couldn't let this end as so many things in his life had ended, in ruin. He refused to allow another disaster to stain his life, or, more importantly, to mark Daniel's. A decision had to be made.

He would do what he thought was right. He would convince Daniel to his way of thinking. Letting out a deep breath, Erik could feel the leaden sky above pressing down upon him like a shroud. Though his expression remained impassive he silently grieved the coming loss for Daniel would surely never forgive him. It was selfish, he knew, but despite his convictions he didn't think he could bear losing the one honest connection he had ever established with another human being. Savagely beating back the longing he still felt in his heart, Erik steeled himself for what he knew he had to do. _This isn't about me. For once do something good, Erik! Convince him to move on… for his own sake!_

"Perhaps you did," Erik heard himself saying in a flat, even tone. "As I said I am a walking disaster. It would be best for you to choose someone else."

Clamping his mouth shut after his short speech Erik was amazed he had been able to say as much as he did. Based upon the frenzied thoughts shooting haphazardly within his skull he had been almost certain he wouldn't be able to form an intelligent sentence. Lowering his gaze to the ground, Erik waited patiently for the angry retort Daniel was sure to throw back at him. Most likely the boy would be upset at first, but surely given time, hopefully a great deal of time, Daniel would get over it and be able to live a long and happy life. But as the minutes ticked by in silence, and Daniel didn't stir himself to speak, Erik began to grow anxious. Dragging his eyes hesitantly back to Daniel's face Erik saw something far worse than anger or hatred taking up residence there. He saw despair.

"You do not understand…" Daniel finally murmured, his entire outline fading until the ground underneath him was clearly visible. "There is no other choice."

"There has to be!!" Erik argued, his voice rising with the panic in his blood. "I am not the right man!! I cannot allow myself to harm you as I am sure I would! There has to be another choice!!"

"Why…" Daniel mouthed, only a barely audible sound escaping his lips.

"Everything I touch withers away!!" Erik shouted as he watched Daniel's left hand completely disappear. _This is wrong… he is getting worse!!_

"And you care?"

Stunned that Daniel would even have to ask, Erik hesitated for a moment, his eyes still glued to the spot where the boy's hand had been resting. "Of course I do!! What are you talking about!!?" Lowering his voice, Erik began to feel a suspicious burning behind his eyes. Trying to hold off the threat of tears, he desperately clutched at anything but the grim sorrow tearing at his insides.

"Funny way… to show it."

"Daniel, I am only trying to do what is best for you!! You do not understand… I would turn you into a monster. It would be inevitable… It is all I have known. You have been good to me… I will not condemn you to a life under my tutelage."

"You sure… that it would be like that?"

Opening his mouth to respond immediately, Erik found that no sound came out. Unbidden the memories of the time he had spent traveling through the world without him rose up in his mind. The image of his mother's beautiful face smiling at another child floated before his eyes and for a moment increased the razor-edged pain in his heart. Shaking his head, Erik pushed the thought aside and tried to concentrate on the present, but his rebellious mind turned to another memory and then another. He saw Christine's pitiful face, her natural splendor dimmed by insurmountable grief. It was unbearable the emptiness that lay within her eyes, because he knew from real life experience how very pretty she was when she smiled. _I could usually get her to smile during her lessons…I lived for those smiles. She never once smiled in this world._

Lost in the memories now assaulting him, Erik helplessly recalled the rapturous giggles of Aria Donovan as her mother chased her across the room and how the small Irish family had teased and bullied each other with love in their gazes. It made him feel warm inside, this memory, as if just by being nearer to their light he was somehow bettered by it. With a jolt the sight of the frozen lake swam before him and the warmth fled, leaving him as cold and empty as the water where Aria was destined to die. _She was so young…it doesn't seem right. I wanted so badly to… to… do something. _

Suddenly feeling bereft, Erik tried to focus his thoughts but he couldn't stop the sight of Brielle Donovan, widow and then mother to a dead child, blankly rocking in her chair, her large rain-colored eyes broken and hurting. _I know that sort of hopeless pain… I do not know her but I know her pain. No one should have to feel so… so… bleak. If only… If only…_

Coming back to himself with a suddenness that left him reeling, Erik realized something, something impossibly important. _If only I had been there to change it all…_

Sucking in a deep breath, Erik's eyes widened in shock, and for the first time he felt as if his life was not so much of a cruel accident. He had done something good when he took Christine as his student, even if it had been for completely selfish reasons at first. Being with him had somehow given her the wings to rise above her heartache to stand up for herself. What higher purpose could a man ever hope to have? He had been noble and decent, even without meaning to. And apparently he wasn't finished yet. _Daniel said that I could somehow help Aria… and prevent every other disaster that he showed to me. Daniel said I could do it… and… and I believe him now!!_

His gaze instantly shot down to the boy lying at his feet, and to his horror he saw that Daniel hardly remained visible at all. All the giddy bliss of his revelation fizzled out as he frantically noticed that his young guide had all but disappeared. "No… no…" he growled to himself as he leaned forward, instinctually moving to take Daniel's quickly vanishing shoulders in his hands. "No, no!!"

Keeping his gaze beseechingly upon Erik's, Daniel parted his lips as if about to say something, but no sound escaped his weakened throat. Tears broke free and splashed down his translucent cheek. He moved his mouth again with some considerable effort and this time managed to force out one ragged word. "Good-bye…" he whispered, the corners of his lips jerking down into a grimace.

Shaking his head violently, Erik refused to acknowledge Daniel's farewell. "No…NO! Do not say that! You cannot go! I will not allow it!! Do not go!!"

"Too late," the boy silently mouthed a reply, his eyes slowly falling closed as his face went slack and expressionless.

Raw, mind-numbing panic gripped the masked man's throat as he stared at Daniel's lifeless expression. Raising his gaze from his guide, Erik frantically searched the clearing about him for some miraculous form of help, but he saw nothing except the vacant forest and silent tombstones pressing in around him on all sides. There would be no help, and soon he would be alone. Despair, blacker than the deepest corners of hell, began to bleed through the cracks in his terror; pushing the panic aside and leaving Erik trembling in its wake. Raising both hands up to tangle in his hair, the masked man let out a strangled sob. Erik tipped his face up to the unforgiving sky above and took several gasping breaths, his vision blurring as he watched the clouds move over him. _No...no!!_

Squeezing his eyes tightly shut, he felt two burning trails sear down his cheeks. Lowering his fingers to his face, Erik brushed away the wetness there. _Alone… I'll be alone again… And Daniel will never know that he was right all along._ Stilling at the thought, Erik dropped his hands to his sides. _The hell he won't! There is still time… maybe just enough for that at least._

Hurriedly bending forward where Daniel's dimly outlined head still rested upon the grass, Erik cleared his throat. "You were right. You were right all along! I was just too stupid to see it. I cannot claim that I am at peace with my life… but please do know… that it is because of you that I have finally realized that perhaps… perhaps I did serve a purpose. That I did some good and that I may do some more before I die. I cannot fully regret my many lonely years now… Finally, I believe you!! I believe!!"

As Erik's final word broke off into a sob Daniel's eyes flew open with a jolt. Instantly settling on his charge's agonized expression, the blue of the boy's gaze flashed brightly in his faded face. A gentle smile curled the corners of his lips as he watched Erik blubbering above him. "I am glad…" he breathed on a long sigh.

And for a one heady moment Erik hoped that Daniel would make a full recovery, but then the boy closed his eyes again and disappeared completely. Frozen in mid-motion Erik stared, dazed, at where his young friend had been resting. Not quite believing what his eyes were telling him, the masked man felt paralyzed from the inside out. This was not the end he had imagined. Deep in the most secretive parts of his soul he had been hoping for a miracle. Where was the happy ending?

Letting out an animalistic howl, he dove forward and pounded his fists into the ground with all the rage his pain could produce. Screaming obscenities at everyone and no one he lay in a disheveled heap in the dirt and sickly clumps of grass. And when finally he could think of nothing else to abuse he lay still, the simple act of breathing in and out becoming a terrible chore. Closing his eyes, he let the pain roll over him in leaden waves, feeling bruised and broken in each new emotion's wake.

What seemed like an eternity of silence settled in around him then, and so dim were his thoughts that even when he opened his eyes he could see nothing but impenetrable darkness. The pain in his soul soon spread, transforming into an almost physical ache in his outer extremities. Coughing raggedly to clear his throat, the masked man struggled to draw in his next breath. The air around him seemed to solidify, and press in from all sides. Gagging when the stink of wood smoke filled his nostrils, Erik tried to raise his face from the chilly stone floor beneath him. Blinking rapidly at his surroundings, he could make out only a dark, unending night.

Feeling groggy and disoriented, he tried to puzzle out where he was and what he was doing there, but the answers seemed to slip away like the smoke brushing past his face. _I lost something… I lost something very dear to me… what was it?_ he wondered vaguely as he lowered his face back to the chilly floor. Focusing his thoughts he was just barely able to recall a field of unending wildflowers. _Someone was waiting there… Someone was there… but… perhaps it was just a dream. _And then the comforting image was gone. A powerful fatigue settled over him as he moaned incoherently into the darkness. Giving up on trying to grasp at the memories which seemed to only dance ever further out of his reach, Erik felt a muffled sob escape from his raspy throat. _Maybe I will just sleep for a while and it will come to me… yes… I will just sleep for a little… _

"Hello?!" a woman's voice suddenly called out from the shadows, causing Erik to immediately halt his wretched noises. "Is somebody there? If you are injured I can assist you."

Wishing only to be left alone, Erik made no move to draw attention to himself. The sadness still pulling at his tired mind was enough to make him wish he were dead already. _No need to be saved… I have already lost everything…_ The distant sound of footsteps hesitantly pattering towards him down the underground corridor indicated that his attempt at staying hidden was not working. His mind cleared slightly as a distant spark of resentment ignited his thoughts. The blasted woman called out again, her words ending on a croak as the smoke caught in her throat. Erik could hear her shuffling about nearby but he tried to stop his ears to the sounds, determined to wallow in his self pity and angst despite the disturbance. Her voice faded in and out as his foggy mind shifted close to unconsciousness.

The cool, soft touch of a hand unexpectedly brushed over his forehead, soothing the heat burning there. "Monsieur, are you injured?" the gently accented voice inquired again, her softly spoken words drawing his mind out of the pit of indefinable despair in which he had been drowning.

Turning his head slightly to the side, a biting retort ready on the tip of his tongue, Erik glared up through the darkness at the woman bending over him, all thoughts of other worlds and sarcastic spirit guides slipping to the deepest depths of his mind.

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Perched comfortably atop a rock, Daniel gazed out over a vast sea of gently swaying wildflowers. Leaning his head back until his face was warmed by the sun, the young man smiled to himself. A light step sounded behind him, causing him to turn slightly toward it. His smile grew as he caught sight of three young women now approaching him from behind. Waving a greeting, he waited until they had come up beside him before he spoke.

"Well hello there," he murmured, his unconcerned tone making two of the three girls glare at him with glittering blue eyes; the third, a grey-eyed beauty, held back.

"What is the matter with you? Talking like this is any other day and grinning like an idiot…" the youngest of the young ladies asked, her dark curls bouncing as she waved her arms in the air impatiently.

"Yes," the oldest of the three agreed, her sharply intelligent blue eyes flashing. "What happened! What did you say? What did _he_ say? Where did the both of you go? What did you see? What was he like? How did you get along?" she asked in a rapid fire series of questions, practically bouncing on her toes with her excitement.

The third new arrival stepped forward then, her calmer presence silencing the rapid fire questions of her companions. Reaching out she affectionately laid a hand on Daniel's bended knee her smiling gray eyes turned up toward him. "Allow him to catch a breath," she said serenely. "After all… we have a great deal of time to talk. There is no need to rush."

Pulling a face, the curly haired brunette shook her head. "Just because you can wait for our brother to take his blessed time doesn't mean that I can!"

Ignoring her more impatient siblings, the grey-eyed sister merely smiled up at Daniel. "What do you think, Daniel?" she asked in a far more patient manner than her sisters. "Will he be all right now?"

Patting the hand on his knee, Daniel gazed off thoughtfully into the distance. After a moment he let out a breath and gave a decisive nod. "Yes, yes, I think he will."

The End

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**Oh and by the way I am having another vote as to what story I should work on next. I have two big ideas and several smaller ones. **

Category: Fruits Basket (An anime if you were wondering.)

**Bloodlines: **The Sohma family has been living under a terrible curse for centuries. Every generation there are twelve who are doomed to live their lives possessed by the vengeful spirits of the Chinese zodiac, which means when they are embraced by the opposite sex they transform into an animal. But now that Honda Tohru has come into their lives and begun to heal the wounds they all foster they are beginning to ask one very important question. What is the source of the curse? But are they really ready to find out the terrible truth of their family's blood history? Or will the knowledge of what their ancestors did to another family undo everything Tohru's friendship did for them?

Category: InuYasha (Another anime)

**The Darkside of Forever:** InuYasha and the gang have been in search of Nuraku, their arch enemy, and the Shikon jewel for three years now. But it seems as if their journey will never end. Naraku has disappeared, taking his portion of the jewel with him, and Miroku's cursed hand is growing worse. If they do not find Naraku soon their friend will certainly die. But just when things seem hopeless tales of a hidden city in the mountains tell them of a legendary healer. Could this be Miroku's only hope at forestalling death? InuYasha and his friends are willing to take the chance, even though the rumors also tell of a great evil that lies sleeping, sealed for hundreds of years, within the very mountains to which they must travel. (**This is just a very basic storyline… keep that in mind. ) **

**The other shorter stories are all Phantom related. But anyway tell me what you think!**


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